DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997              TAG: 9703270392

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONI GUAGENTI, STAFF WRITER

                                            LENGTH:   95 lines

SHELTER'S MISSION OUTWEIGHS CONCERNS BEACH COUNCIL APPROVES EXPANSION OF SETON HOUSE FOR TROUBLED TEENS.

In the end, it came down to the shelter's reputation.

On one side was Seton House, a volunteer organization offering shelter for troubled girls at St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church.

On the other was Kings Grant fighting to keep its middle-class community safe and secure.

City Council members found themselves caught in the middle of a marathon debate that dragged on into the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

A majority finally sided with Seton House, saying its track record of helping adolescents in times of need over the past 12 years outdistanced neighbors' concerns.

``The benefits that this application presents to the city, in my view, outweigh the burdens that the application presents to the neighborhood,'' said Councilman William W. Harrison Jr. before he cast his vote in favor of Seton House.

``I'm just convinced that the applicant has demonstrated a zeal for the ministry of . . . children in trouble,'' Harrison said.

The scales could have tipped either way up until the final minutes before the City Council voted 7-3 to approve a request by Seton House to expand its program to include boys.

Wednesday's vote allows Seton House to build another shelter at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church on Edinburgh Drive, where the girls will eventually move. The boys will then occupy the shelter at St. Nicholas.

The more than 150 opponents and proponents waited - some not so patiently - for the final word.

That's how emotional the issue was; that's how close the vote could have been.

And at 1:20 a.m., more than seven hours after the council meeting began and three hours after the Seton House debate started, they got an answer.

At times, the debate approached ugly, as people in the audience commented out of turn while others gave the council their testimony.

But eventually, time took its toll on the audience and on the council members - eyes drooped, voices lost their thunder and yawns intermittently interrupted people's undivided attention.

Nearly 30 people testified before the council.

Neighbors kept coming back to diminishing property values, parking problems, safety concerns.

Supporters reiterated a need in Virginia Beach for a place to help teens, particularly boys, sort out their problems with their parents and get their lives back on track.

After listening to the concerns, council members' faces registered how difficult the impending decision would be.

``I really struggled with that,'' said Councilman Louis R. Jones, who voted against the expansion. ``I think that everybody struggled with it.''

Council members Reba S. McClanan and Barbara M. Henley also voted against the expansion. Vice Mayor William D. Sessoms excused himself from the hearing, citing a conflict of interest because his bank does work with Seton House.

Those who supported the expansion said Seton House is an asset to the community.

``I really believe that if we're successful in saving one young man from having to go to court and be in a juvenile detention center . . . , then I think we've made the right decision,'' Harrison said.

Juvenile detention centers were on council members' minds as they considered Seton House's program to keep teens out of trouble. The council was told Tuesday that the Tidewater Detention Home is straining at its seams, and they agreed to proceed with designs for a new, $10 million juvenile detention facility.

Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and other council members said they recognized how heated the Seton House issue was but hoped that differences would diminish over time.

Seton House opens its doors to children ages 12 to 17. The average age of a teen-ager staying at the facility is 14.

Adolescents seek shelter at Seton House because they're having problems at home.

``We help them start communicating with their parents,'' said Kathy Jeffries, Seton House's president. ``Our goal is to reunify the families.''

Jeffries said Seton House reunifies the girls about 85 percent of the time with their families.

Girls are referred by parents, schools, churches, therapists and other friends, Jeffries said.

Seton House averages 80 calls about the shelter's services per month, with an average of 200 girls who stay at the center a year. The girls stay an average of two weeks.

``My familiarity with Seton House for the past 12 years has been nothing but positive,'' Oberndorf said. ``I've had no complaints from neighbors and I visited both expectedly and unexpectedly, often enough to know that they run a tight ship.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

Seten House

THE ISSUE: Seton House, a church offering shelter for troubled

girls, wants to expand to include boys. Neighbors contend that it

would threaten community safety.

THE VOTE: After almost three hours of emotional debate, the

Virginia Beach City Council voted 7-3 to approve the expansion. KEYWORDS: SETON HOUSE

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