Residents rail against shelter location

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

Burlington residents aren’t convinced the Women’s Resource Center of Racine needs to place a domestic violence shelter in the city.

What’s more? Those same residents can’t fathom why the WRC would choose a building across the street from a school.

Just two weeks after word of the proposed shelter – across the street from Cooper School at 241-249 Amanda Street – made its way out into the community of Burlington, many don’t want to wait and see what will happen.

Concerned parents of Cooper Elementary School students showed up at the Burlington Area School District School Board meeting Monday night, and other residents came to the City of Burlington Plan Commission meeting Tuesday.

While Mayor Bob Miller shut down comments at the Plan Commission meeting – he said he didn’t want to spend time debating a possible project that may or may not happen – the parents at the School Board meeting Monday night were heard.

Bob Grandi, who touched off the public debate in letter to the Burlington Standard Press, doesn’t have children at Cooper, but spoke at the School Board meeting, outlining his concerns – the safety of Cooper students and families, and whether the community needs a shelter in addition to the Transitional Living Center.

He also questioned where people would park given the already difficult parking situation at Cooper School, as well as the fact that the WRC does not require residents to be drug or alcohol free.

“I’m hoping you will consider all this information and issue a statement to the City Council and Planning Commission that a zoning variance for this location is not in the best interest of the school district,” Grandi read from a prepared statement.

Lisa Wasik, who has two students at Cooper and four total in the district, said, “This type of facility does not belong across the street from an elementary school.”

The same general sentiment seemed ready to spill over at the Plan Commission meeting Tuesday night before Miller nipped it in the bud, calling it a “what if” scenario.

“There’s no sense talking about something that may not happen,” he explained. When one resident, Cathy Hartzell, said she wanted to know when the public would be heard, Miller said a public hearing would have to be held before the Plan Commission considered any zoning changes or variances.

Miller added that nothing official has come before the council or commission yet.

In an interview Tuesday morning, Miller said he remained largely unconcerned about the location, having worked with the WRC in the past.

The WRC is planning a 12-20 bed emergency center that will also serve as a program center for Western Racine County.

The need for the shelter has been questioned by Grandi and others, because the TLC does house domestic violence victims when needed.

The TLC Board of Directors Executive Committee of David Taylor, Tracy Short, Anton Nickolai and Patricia Hoffman issued a statement Friday, saying that while the TLC has provided shelter to domestic violence victims in the past, its main mission is to assist “any and all people experiencing homelessness.”

The statement, which can be found in full as a letter to the editor on page 6, goes on to state that the TLC is hopeful that a cooperative venture with the WRC can be explored, because the WRC has outgrown its space at Love, Inc.

“There is opportunity to collaborate but it must be synergistic versus duplicative,” the statement reads.

Hoffman said Tuesday that the main concern is duplication of efforts.

“I think our concern is duplication…and the need for us to coordinate,” Hoffman explained. “We haven’t had that opportunity for coordination.

“I don’t want to attack in any way the work the Women’s Resource Center does in Western Racine County,” Hoffman added.