Clientele worries Marietta neighbors
By BRENDEN SAGER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/26/05
A treatment clinic for sexual offenders that opened without notice on a residential street in Marietta got an icy reception Monday from neighbors.
"I don't sleep anymore. I'm scared to go outside," said Allison Estabrook, who lives five houses away. "All of our daily routines have changed. Would you want this at the end of your street?"
Estabrook lives on Amy Drive, just south of the intersection with North Marietta Parkway, also called the 120 Loop. She spoke at a neighborhood meeting hosted by officials of the Medlin Treatment Center. State and local officials also attended the meeting to hear complaints neighbors began voicing when the clinic opened three weeks ago.
A small percentage of the clinic's clients are sex offenders, who include rapists and child molesters, said Dr. Julie Medlin, clinic director. Those clients are required to have treatment sessions as a condition of their parole or probation.
The clinic sees about 150 patients a week, including victims of abuse and others seeking voluntary counseling, said Jay Hall, vice president of the clinic.
The director said it was "extremely unlikely" that clients at the clinic might pose a threat to neighbors, partly because stranger-on-stranger attacks are rare. The clinic also has a safety plan for its clients, she said, which includes not driving on the nearby residential streets.
"If they're the small percentage who targets strangers, they're probably not going to be targeting neighbors on your street" because they're receiving treatment, Medlin said.
The meeting with about a dozen neighbors erupted at times into a shouting match, and some of the neighbors walked out rather than hear Medlin's presentation.
Medlin said she didn't anticipate the strong neighborhood resistance when the clinic's board selected the site at 698 N. Marietta Parkway.
"I didn't view it as being in your neighborhood. I viewed it as being on North Marietta Parkway," she said. "We never had any problems with our other locations."
Medlin ran a clinic on Seminole Drive in Marietta, in a nearby commercial area, for about eight years. The new clinic, which has more space, is one of three run by Medlin in the Atlanta metro area. The others are in Bartow and Henry counties.
Most neighbors said they wanted the center to close, but city officials said it is properly zoned and not in violation of any laws. The residents also objected to the location of the clinic's driveway, which opens onto Amy Drive.
At Monday's meeting, residents complained that Medlin clients could peer into their windows, watch children playing on the street or stalk women.
Neighbor Sean Colvin said he wanted the center to move its driveway to North Marietta Parkway so that clients won't have sight of the homes on Amy Drive.
"Do I think that someone is going to pop out of a tree? No." Colvin said. "But if one person is a peeper, who is to say they're not looking into my window?"
Moving the entrance to North Marietta Parkway could prove difficult because there are few curb cuts for businesses along the strip. Local governments try to eliminate the curb cuts because they slow traffic.
Mike Jones owns the building where the clinic rents space. He said the Marietta City Council rezoned the property to office-institutional about five years ago and required that its entrance be located on Amy Drive. The city "required the drive on Amy Drive as a condition of the zoning," he said.
Clinic staff members and neighbors agreed Monday to meet again at the end of August.
