By Kathianne Boniello
Loud and tense questioning from residents opposed to the placement of a group home for the developmentally disabled in Bayside dominated a Community Board 11 public hearing Monday night.
Between 10 and 15 people who live near 56-30 204th St. in Bayside just west of the Clearview Expressway attended the CB 11 public hearing to question a representative of Professional Services for the Handicapped, or PSCH, the agency seeking to establish the group home.
Claire Mahon, executive vice president of PSCH, said the home would serve five developmentally disabled people between the ages of 27 and 42. The group home, which would house three women and two men, would have 24-hour staff supervision, she said.
The staff would include two supervisors during the day and evening hours and one overnight staff member as well as staff that would be on call at all times, she said.
PSCH has agreed to pay $310,000 for the one-family home, which will be used by the five residents who can no longer live with their aging parents.
While Mahon described the five residents as “fairly high functioning” with mild to moderate retardation, she said they did require 24-hour care.
Community Board 11 held the public hearing on the group home in accordance with state law, but the board follows its own policy and does not vote on group home applications. District Manager Anne Marie Boranian said CB 11 adopted the nonvoting policy a few years ago.
When some of those at the meeting became disruptive, CB 11 Chairman Bernie Haber told them “we're here purely to make sure that the information that Ms. Mahon has gets to you, because better that you know than not know. And that's the purpose of this hearing.”
A law written by state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) in the late 1970s requires community notification and public hearings when group homes are established in an area and gives community boards the opportunity to recommend alternate sites for the homes.
In a telephone interview after the meeting, Padavan said “before that law there were no requirements for public hearings. There was nothing.”
Residents expressed fears that a group home would reduce property values and endanger small children in the neighborhood. They also voiced anger at the state and federal process of placing group homes in communities.
Alfred Gelsomino, who lives next door to the proposed group home, said “our property values are going to go down and it don't mean nothing. You're not thinking about us. We got no say.”
Resident Donny Li, who lives on the other side of the property, said he was also concerned.
“I just moved in,” he said. “I have small children.”
Li said he was worried about increased traffic in the area brought in by the group home.
Mahon responded to the residents' questions throughout the hearing, which lasted for more than an hour.
Mahon, who said College Point-based PSCH places about 250 developmentally disabled people in Queens every year, pointed out that in her experience group homes have little impact on the economics of a neighborhood.
“I've been involved in over 750 group homes,” she said. “Rarely do the property values in the neighborhood drop.”
Responding to the question of small children living near group homes, Mahon said “there are small children next to our homes as there are elderly people as there is an entire community. There is no reason to expect any danger to children from individuals living in this home.”
Residents also criticized what they called a lack of notification about the group home as well as the federal and state laws that govern the process.
Boranian said CB 11 sent some 38 notices about the public meetings to residents living within 200 feet of the proposed group home, as required by state law.
Some of the residents said they had not received the notification and were fearful that the group home would be railroaded through despite community opposition.
One incensed resident, Vincent Florio, said: “Are you going to do it whether we like it or not?”
Mahon replied “it is a state law and unless there is something wrong with this home or we are overruled by [the state], this will be a group home.”
