A controversial rooming house on 24th Street
“Neighbors are upset that the house in the 400 block of North 24th Street is being used as a rooming house for sex offenders.” [via]
“Neighbors are upset that the house in the 400 block of North 24th Street is being used as a rooming house for sex offenders.” [via]
I would just point out that everyone looking for more “open” zoning around the neighborhood might want to think about situations such as this one.
In southside at 5320 Media Rd, Another Chance Housing is listed as the owner. In the first couple of months of this year, there were four registered sex offenders at that address. I just checked the city GIS, and Another Chance Housing owns multiple properties, coincidentally including one at 408 N 24th St.
Also coincidentally, both properties were owned by an Isaiah Hilliard until December 2008. I did a business search on Another Chance back in February and found that Mr. Hilliard is associated with A.C. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Hilliard is running a roving sex offender housing program, since all our Media Rd sex offenders disappeared sometime in the last couple months.
The following properties are listed as owned by ACH, followed by previous listed owner:
5320 Media Rd (Isaiah Hilliard)
2903 Hanes Ave (Isaiah Hilliard)
3504 Chamberlayne Ave (Grace Hilliard)
1407 N 27th St (Isaiah Hilliard & Lee Blanche)
408 N 24th (Isaiah Hilliard)
816 Akron St (Isaiah and Blanche again)
1311 Idlewood Ave (Isaiah)
811 W Lancaster Rd (Isaiah)
All the property transfer dates are 12/17/08.
I think we have a little family business going here.
There are zoning restrictions on the number of unrelated people who can live in a house in a residentially zoned area.
Two of those guys lived over in Battery Park until a few months ago. I had to call the state to them to update their records because I saw them moving out. Second chance housing has a couple of houses over here in Battery Park.
I’m not a fan of group homes, but I will say the house didn’t cause any issues.
One thing I have have noticed about the state’s registry is the people list a home address (rent a room) but they actual don’t live there, they live at another address.
“Rooming houses” are illegal under every kind of zoning.
Aside from the sex offender issue. We do find an increase in “rooming houses” when their is a lack of affordable housing – whether that be rent or owning. Sure no one wants a “rooming house” on their street – but what is a person to do?
“There are zoning restrictions on the number of unrelated people who can live in a house in a residentially zoned area.”
Ha. Tell that to VCU college students in the Fan. The rooming house laws are archaic in that many of them have their historic basis in Jim Crow. There needs to be better solutions to the problems like the one highlighted by this post.
This is a tough issue. No matter how I look at it, it seems like a lose/lose proposition. The whole sex registry thing seems like a good idea, until you realize that everyone knowing this stuff can affect your property values. All this collateral damage is what worries me, and yet these folks have to live somewhere when they are released. I don’t quite know how to think about it all and regardless, is there anything the community can or should do?
@anonymous – Except that college is one environment, and this is another. Your neighborhood and ours have different issues.
With one very unique exception, every “boarding house” that I’ve known of in the Church Hill area has been a detriment to the block that it sits on.
I have been on the Virginia Sex Offender website today, and encourage each of you to do the same. This house is one block away from mine, and I actually “welcomed” one of the men when I saw him moving in. I had no idea he was a registered sex offender, as most of the neighbors have no idea. Thank you John M., again, for keeping us informed – I have made enough copies of the 4 men’s Sex Offender Registries (with photos) to distribute to the surrounding few blocks.
According to Channel 6, they have to vacate by the end of the month, but surely they will just “relocate” to another home owned by this “faith based group.” A true faith based group would not only be interested in helping these offenders, but in keeping neighborhoods and their residents safe and informed. Where is the supervision for these men? Where is the counseling from this “faith based group?”
Two of these men have a history of criminal sex acts against children. Two have a history of aggravated sexual assault. Residents in a community (myself included) MUST check the registry and check it often. You will be surprised and sickened by how many violent sex offenders we have living in Church Hill. And Lauren, I also hate to see my property value go down, but I hate more the knowledge that I have been walking by that home every day after work, thinking that was the “safe” direction to walk my dog at night….having no idea the potential danger that was footsteps away.
The real issue here is ACH. They are harboring dangerous individuals with no warning to surrounding residents. What they are doing is at best disgusting, and at worst criminal. Does anyone know what steps we, as a community, should be taking to shut ACH down?
john m. – so the rooming house law applies to Church Hill but not the Fan?
There’s sex offender residences in the Fan and there’s college students residences in Church Hill. What do you do when there’s a college student living in sin with a sex offender?
I understand the desire for safety and awareness but that’s not an excuse for a war on cohabitation or selectively applying a bad law.
However, I will say there is a way that rooming house laws could be applied to both students and sex offenders fairly- if landlords in single family-zoned districts were made to apply for landlord permits for each unit.
Violations by landlords or tenants could lead to termination of the permit. It would help control landlords, tenants, and earn a few bucks for the City budget.
Also on wric.com…
Anonymous – if you are truly asking whether or not an outdated law is being applied correctly, I think we can all agree that it probably is not. But if your question is whether there is a difference between a group of college students living in a house together, and a group of CONVICTED SEX OFFENDERS living in a house together – the difference is obvious. I’d be interested to know how far your home is from 408 N. 24th.
There is no way to argue that these CONVICTED SEX OFFENDERS living unsupervised in an unmarked home in a neighborhood full of children and women is a safe idea. Do these men need somewhere to live? Absolutely. Do they deserve a chance to receive appropriate counseling and get their lives on track? Of course. Is there any chance that this living situation is healthy for them or their neighbors, or will lead to their rehabilitation? Not at all.
Anonymous the rooming house law was put into place for many reasons. It is common for landlord in a rooming situation to jam as many people into a house as possible. I go to Northside CAPS meetings and seen the conditions that some people are forced to live in.
There was a house on 4th Ave in Southern Highland Park. Had one person living in front parlor room, one in the living room, one in the dinning, one person in each of the four bedrooms, two people in the attic, and mother and three children in the unfinished basement. That’s 12 people.
Most of the adults had drug issues. The landlord collect $100 a week for each person. The owner lived in the westend. The city shut it down and moved the people into hotels until they were able to find them housing. The owner sold the house to someone and they were able to fix it up. It is very nice house now.
Another situation was not as bad but there was a rooming house in Battery Park had about 6 people all very quiet you would not know it was a rooming house. Then the house caught fire.
The reason it caught fire was they had overloaded the electric with space heaters.
All I can say is that I have seen this happen (college students) on our block. It has calmed down a bit now but sometimes it increases and wonder how safe this is or how many beds are actually in there – or is everyone sleeping together? The landlord is only looking at the bottom line as to how much they can get and doubt they do any screening so who knows what is living there? Yet you rarely see them on the property doing regular maintenance or socializing with their tenants to know what is happening or who these people really are they rent to. Only after the place is empty you see them over there. Poor management and GREED.
Right, Steven, and this is why landlord permits make sense for controlling both the CONVICTED SEX OFFENDORS!!! (I added hysteria for previous poster’s benefit- by the way I do live around the block from a convicted sex offendor and I try my best to keep an eye on him) and inconsiderate college students in the Fan. It also makes sense for Code enforcement and the longterm health of the City.
I live next door to one of Isaiah Hilliard’s properties. It is currently vacant (but kept up), but for the past year, it was operated as a halfway house. Now, I found out about the house after I moved in, and, as you can imagine, was a little worried. I’d like to note that the program, while possibly not legal with the rooming house aspect, was very controlled. And, there were a few sex offenders there at different times.
For those concerned with the ACH program, the men next door had a very strict regimen, which included the following:
- first, the program didn’t accept everybody. They took in men (most over 40 years of age) who were willing to abide by the rules and participate.
- had to acquire a job (or be in job training)
- had to attend a church of their choice regularly
- no women, booze, or drugs (any one of the three would get them discharged immediately)
- attendance to group counseling
- there was always a house manager
There was only one time that we had an issue: one of the men was obviously on a controlled substance. I contacted the house manager and, within one day, that man was discharged from their house.
I am a female, and neither my overprotective husband nor I ever had anything to worry about from this house. The program manager (who oversees all the houses) stopped by and gave us his card. He told us that, if there was ever any issue, he or the house manager would see to it immediately.
Laura & Richard – I appreciate you taking the time to provide factual information that is needed about ACH and rooming houses in general. While I still believe that the supervision provided is far lower than needed, especailly considering the nature of these men’s crimes, I am very happy to see concerned neighbors step forward with information and thoughts that can add to the conversation about this issue.
Anonymous- let me be clear in saying that I used all caps to point out to you specifically that we are talking about men with violent criminal sexual histories. You, on the other hand, seem inordinately concerned about how we can compare these men to college students. Guess what – when you commit violent crimes, sexual or otherwise, you do lose rights and favor in the community. And I understand that you live “around the block” from one sex offender, and feel the need to “keep an eye on him.” Imagine how you might feel if it was not one, but four, in a unsupervised single family home, next door to two very young children. I hope and pray that you and the people you love have never been the victim of a violent sexual crime. In fact, I can only assume that is the case, based on your lack of concern for the safety of the neighborhood versus the lack of equal residential rights for these men.
“In fact, I can only assume that is the case, based on your lack of concern for the safety of the neighborhood versus the lack of equal residential rights for these men.”
You are assuming quite a bit there. But I am really not interested in debating you about felon rights or neighborhood safety. You can have those high horses all by yourself.
All I want to do is offer the landlord permit idea as an alternative to the “rooming house” law, which, historically, has been applied in a selective and often racist fashion.
Landlord permits are also a possible solution to other neighborhood issues.
“- had to acquire a job (or be in job training)
- had to attend a church of their choice regularly
- no women, booze, or drugs (any one of the three would get them discharged immediately)
- attendance to group counseling
- there was always a house manager”
FWIW:
Regarding 408, not everyone in that house is working nor are those who are not working in job training.
Also, the “house manager” for 408 is one of the four violent sexual offenders.
Not to condone sex offenders, but has anyone considered how hard it’d be to get housing after you’re registered? It’s pretty difficult to meet anyone willing to rent to you (as most landlords would do background checks, etc.) Maybe these men just found this place would take them in for a while, and are trying to get back to living normally.
Also, you should realize that most assault/rape occurs between known couples – spouses, significant others, not someone you don’t know. Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t bother me to know these men are by my house… just most people know you first.. its your husband or boyfriend who is more likely to do anything than some random men down the block…
re post #23 It’s nice to try and sympathize with their plight, but the fact is that the rate of recidivism with rapists and other sex offenders is extremely high, it’s not usually an isolated incident nor are their crimes usually directed at one individual.
I’d also like to point out that all 4 of these men were convicted of sexual crimes against children. I wasn’t aware, but the sexual battery charges against 2 of the men are involving children between the ages of 13-15. One man raped a child he was custodian of, and one man was involved in the financing, production, or distribution of child pornography.
Given the nature of these crimes, I think it SHOULD be very difficult to find a place to live.
And an assault happening between known couples only means that the offender is willing to sexually attack someone he is supposed to love personally – which is almost more disgusting if you think about it.
These men do not have a “problem” – they have a sexual preference for violence and control. That does not go away, and certainly not when you are surrounded by others with the same preference.
Alisha K: So in your expert opinion, where should these people go after fulfilling their debt to society? I truly loathe the “not in my backyard mentality” Should they just take to the streets; would that be a better idea? At least this way, they are registered and we know where they are. The registry is there for a reason; to keep communities informed, in my opinion it is doing its job. If you have problems with individuals or incidents at the property contact the owner or the police.
I would like to note that to view the SO registry you agree that you will not use the information to harrass or intimidate the offenders. There is a specific instruction regarding the copying and distributing of this information. It is a fine line, but I would not make any more photo copies. If the copies are distributed to someone who then harrasses or intimidates one of the residents, you might be civilly liable.
The real issue with rooming houses is not necessarily the quality of the tenant. The conditions in rooming house properties are invariably unsafe in terms of the number of occupants and the burdens that number people place on old wiring and plumbing. These properties frequently burn down due to wiring problems and are often a maze of extension cords nailed to ceilings and draped through interior transoms.
While the sex offender concentration may or may not be a consideration, the physical arrangement of how the property is configured to accomodate so many people is the primary public safety issue. Because they are fire hazards, a rooming house should not be in anyone’s back yard regardless of whether its tenants are sex offenders.
I am not an “expert”, nor do I have a specific idea of where these individuals should live that would best suit them. In case you have misread the numerous posts here, this is not one person in one home, but at least four in a home not suited to that need. It would be difficult to argue the fact that they should have (and need) a housing manager/counselor on site who is not also a convicted sex offender.
This is where I live, and I am now scared to death to go for a walk after dark.
Having said that, I am uninterested in debating this issue further with “neighbors” who are attacking viewpoints from behind their convenient little walls of anonymity or smugly worded posting aliases. It is very hard to take anyone seriously when they are unwilling to stand behind their words.
I would like to clarify that the person using the name “neighbor” was right on the money about another issue with this house. I appreciate you addressing the issue and not verbally attacking concerned residents of Church Hill.
I attended the CAPS meeting last night. Thanks to the hard work of the CAPS team (in particular Earl Weaver and Sergeant Prince), the home owner was served with a warrant for illegally operating a rooming house and is to appear in court June 11. He has promised to get the men out of the house. The CAPS team said the warrant was expedited due to the number of citizen complaints. So thank you to all of you that spoke out. I watch children walk by that house everyday on their way to school and am so relieved. We’ll all have to keep posted to see if Isaiah Hilliard actually gets the men out.