Las Vegas NowNeighborhood Residents Upset Over Halfway House Plans

Neighborhood Residents Upset Over Halfway House Plans

The planning commission were to vote Tuesday on whether to allow a federal halfway house near a residential neighborhood.

People in the Avalon Village subdivision near Eastern and Sunset say they learned about the halfway house from a flyer in the neighborhood and not the county.

One after another, several people filed into the commission chambers with one thing in mind -- try and stop the commission from putting a halfway house in their neighborhood.

“Everybody has a stake in this and it's just a wrong place to put this,” said Melvin Smith.

The idea of having criminals living so close raised lots of concerns by neighbors who expressed it to the planning commission.

“I understand their concerns. I understand that this may not be the best thing for their homes, their kids,” said planning commissioner Greg Esposito.

Following a nearly 45 minute presentation by the company, an unexpected twist was announced. “We may disagree with them, but we hear their concerns. This company wants to be part of this community and with that in mind we are going to withdraw our application. We are not going to go in your area,” said a representative.

The announcement was cheered by residents who couldn't be more thrilled. “I did not expect it to end as quickly as it did,” said resident Sharron Phalon-Smith.

The company's consultant, Micah Ali, says it will now look for another place to build because facilities like these are needed for criminals getting out of prison. “So that when they assimilate, they can come back into mainstream society to compete for opportunity,” he said.

But just where that is or if it will be well received is still uncertain.