Pine Street residents rip plans for sober house in neighborhood fraught with drugs

The building at 16 Pine St. proposed to be a sober home for 15 women. (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - About a dozen Pine Street residents showed up at a City Council workshop on Tuesday to complain that a planned unstaffed sober home that would house 15 recovering alcoholics is not a good fit for their neighborhood, which they say is fraught with drugs that could threaten the success of those seeking to shake their addiction.

"The drug war is in out front yards and our back yards," said Diane Desmarais. "We see used bags of heroin ... syringes on our property. We live with that."

Diane Desmarais of Pine Street tells City Council members that Pine Street is the wrong place to have an unsupervised sober home. (City of Rochester video capture)

Desmarais said the planned sober house to be run by Bonfire Recovery Services of Dover is expected to have no live-in counselor or administrator, leading her to wonder what the rules of the house would be or if there would be rules.

"We don't know the rules of this house," she said. "What if they decide in the middle of the night to call their boyfriends? How do we know if drugs are going in and out of the house?"

Susan Major who lives next to 16 Pine St. - site of the planned sober house - said when work first began on the former boarding house workers on site had said it would be supervised, but now she's heard differently and she's worried for the safety of the group home's residents.

"These people will be living in a neighborhood where they used to do drugs." Major said. "Without supervision by someone to offer stress management or conflict resolutions, it could be bad. This is one of the highest drug areas of Rochester."

Bonfire Recovery Services director Andrew West, who will be the administrator of the facility, has said he doesn't want the address to be released to the public, Desmarais said, adding that, in itself, is a disturbing revelation.

"He doesn't want the address out there, because it's a danger to occupants?" Demarais quipped. "Well, if it's a danger to them it's a danger to us, too."

West, who already runs a sober home for men in Dover, was not immediately available for comment today.

Major said when 16 Pine St. was a boarding home, she couldn't allow her granddaughter to play in the back yard due to loud and lewd music. She said the nights were filled with fights and brawls and fears that could all return, especially if there is no supervision or security.

She's also worried about her home's property value and desirability being affected, saying a Realtor recently told her if a sober house was next door, she'd have a hard time selling.

Andrea Lemire, who lives at 17 Pine St., said it was ludicrous to put a sober house in a neighborhood where drugs are so prevalent and readily available.

"Why put temptation in front of people trying to get their lives back," Lemire said, adding that parking and congestion concerns had also been voiced by many.

Carmen Laferrierre, who lives just a few doors down from the proposed sober house, said she fears for the safety of her 12- and 5-year old children if the facility is allowed.

The property at 16 Pine St., a sprawling foot two-story structure, has also been a former nursing home.

City Manager Blaine Cox was not immediately available for comment on this story.