Shelter Supporters Protest Loss of Permit

About 20 supporters joined the founders of Eli Home at a demonstration outside Anaheim City Hall on Friday, vowing to do whatever it takes to keep the shelter open.

In a 3-2 vote, the Anaheim City Council decided Tuesday not to renew the conditional-use permit of the year-old home, a shelter for abused children and their mothers.

Mayor Tom Daly said then that granting the permit was a “land-use mistake that needs to be corrected.”

Shelter founder Lorri Galloway said several attorneys have stepped forward to volunteer their services and are prepared to file temporary restraining orders in response to any eviction notices.

“Nobody should be able to deny safe housing to children and their mothers for reasons that aren’t valid. They have voted to close down the only emergency shelter in Anaheim, and we will fight back,” Galloway said.

The seven-bedroom home, which can accommodate 22 people, is in an upscale Anaheim Hills neighborhood. The facility has faced opposition since its inception. Local homeowners filed 71 complaints against the home in the last year, primarily over parking problems, Galloway said.

Councilman Bob Zemel, who along with Tom Tait voted to extend the shelter’s permit, said that although every complaint was investigated, no citations or violations were ever issued.

“The complaints keep coming from the same obsessed group of neighbors,” Zemel said. “But there is no proof that there were ever any actual violations. It’s tragic. I’m embarrassed and saddened to be part of a city council that would do something like this.”

Galloway said she is working with Department of Housing and Urban Development officials to consider the home’s options. She said a civil action alleging discrimination is a possibility.