Neighbors oppose planned transitional housing for paroled sex offenders, felons at SE Bend triplex

(Update: Adding video, comments from residents and Deschutes County commissioner)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- An online petition drive started by southeast Bend residents is aiming to stop the establishment of a transitional housing complex for adult parolees and registered sex offenders at a triplex on Southeast Wilson Avenue.

Ashley Schreiber is part of an online Facebook group pushing to move the housing location. In an email to county commissioners, she focused on the proximity of the housing to neighborhood schools and parks. Her petition has gained more than 400 signatures in five days, closing in on their goal of 500 signatures.

"We walk down Wilson all the time. We go get ice cream, we go to the park, we go walk to our friend's house. I'm not going to feel comfortable doing that any more," Schreiber said Monday.

The triplex located at 640-652 Wilson Avenue, has existing tenants who were given checks to pay for moving out and making way for the new facility, according to the county. One tenant in the triplex next door says many families living nearby have young children.

Deschutes County Adult Parole & Probation received a grant of just over $1 million under a state emergency order to purchase a four-plus bedroom property to shelter “male justice-involved individuals” – those who have a restriction on contact with minors or who have to register as a sex offender.

Schreiber said, "This is proving how poorly planned this was and rushed. And this is the kind of thing that shouldn't be rushed. And if you're so willing to to admit that you rushed this, what else are you going to rush?"

We reported on the transitional housing proposal in August, when county officials were still reviewing the location.

County Community Justice Director Deevey Holmes said the housing could prevent homelessness. 

"In some cases, we think, 'Well, maybe it's going to be better to have it in a spot where there aren't a lot of neighbors, not in a community -- and that may be where we end up,'" Holcomb said Monday.

"On the other hand, if it's too remote, it's possible that access to transportation or other necessary services might be really, really difficult and make it harder for those folks to do what they need to do to get back on the right track," she said.

Overall, about 10% of those on parole or probation end up in a permanent cycle of homelessness and transitional outcomes.

County Commissioner Phil Chang says this type of monitored transitional housing is the best option for parolees, but that the county can't keep sex offenders from living in the home. 

"The recidivism rate is is 1%, so it's extremely extremely low recidivism rate," Chang said. "It's not zero. But the probability of someone who is released under the conditions reoffending is almost zero."

Schreiber wrote, "The proposed site is just 650 feet away from Kiwanis Park. Neighboring properties are filled with families and kids. Additionally, the site's broader vicinity to four parks and Bend High School where students walk daily, adds to the heightened risks posed by housing felons and sex offenders in our neighborhood."

County commissioners recently approved the property purchase and a grant agreement for operation of the facility by an Oregon City-based organization, Free on the Outside.