Tracy Residents Not Happy About New, Formerly Homeless, Neighbors
TRACY (CBS13) - It's a new home and the start of a new life for 10 men and women in Tracy, but their neighbors are not exactly excited to have them there.
These neighbors are not rolling out the welcome mats. They say it's not because the new residents were homeless. It's because no one knows who they even are.
It's a quaint, charming and quiet little neighborhood tucked away on W. Emerson Avenue in Tracy.
"A very nice area to raise your family," Glorya Rodriguez said.
"It's a wonderful place," her husband Guillermo said.
Guillermo and Glorya bought their home here five years ago. Now they've added to their family with little Trinity and Sasantos.
But they also have new neighbors. Just two doors down, the place is being leased to the Coalition of Tracy Citizens to Assist the Homeless. Men and women struggling to afford a place to stay will live here.
But with 10 new neighbors moving into just one house, people here are saying "Wait one minute."
"There's small children that will be just two houses down," neighbor KC Leader said. "Will there be pedophiles? Will they be background checked? Are they going to be ex-cons? Are they going to be drug adicts? Are they going to be alcoholics?"
The non-profit organization wouldn't talk to CBS13 saying it has already received enough negative attention.
"No, we can't kick them out," Tracy City Councilman Steve Abercrombie said. "We're not changing the zoning or anything like that. They're here. Now we just have to know, since they're here, what can we do to hopefully have everybody live cohesively?"
The city says it has talked to neighbors and encouraged them to start a Neighborhood Watch program and report problems that occur.
But that doesn't bring peace to the people who live here.
"I think it's outrageous," Sue Holmes said. "I think it's outrageous and if they get away with it, I'll probably move."
"We have small children," Glorya Rodriguez said. "We don't know who is going to be in and out of there."
It's a concern that won't be going away anytime soon.
"Our questions have not been answered," Guillermo Rodriguez said.
The non-profit group assures the city and neighbors they will do background checks on people living in the home. But they aren't sure what that will consist of or who will be allowed to move in - and some people are already living in the house.
Meanwhile, neighbors say they are starting that Neighborhood Watch group. The first meeting will be July 12.
