Neighbors concerned about opening of sex offender rehab center near ballet school

SAN FRANCISCO -- There are feelings of outrage in one San Francisco neighborhood as people learn a sex offender rehab facility will be soon be opening its doors.

Sharper Future is relocating to the former Out of the Closet location at Church and Duboce Avenue in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood.

There is a Change.org petition with more than 350 signatures and while the opening of the facility is being delayed it's not likely to be stopped altogether.

Having a sex offender rehabilitation facility open nearby is not on point with San Francisco's Ballet Academy.

"The concern is for the safety of our students," Magnolia Vehey from the Academy of Ballet said.

Some 400 students, half of them children, study at the studio near Market and Church streets.

Sharper Future, a clinic for registered sex offender parolees, is relocating to the former Out of the Closet space at Church and Duboce Avenue.

"They come very well recommended. They are considered absolutely one of the best service providers with a really good reputation," said San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener.

Nonetheless, Wiener says the facility's opening date of Feb. 1 needs to be delayed so that outreach can happen.

"Nearly no outreach, especially given that proposed date," Vehey said.

The location will be one of 15 already operating in California, several are in the Bay Area.

"The first thing that popped into my mind is that they're not supposed to do that near schools and this is a school," Larry Rosenfeld, the grandfather of a ballet student, said.

Shaper Future received Planning Department approval in late December. It meets the zoning requirements for the neighborhood. The company says it has not had a negative incident in more than 20 years.

"Here that outreach didn't happen, it became public, and people are understandably very upset," Wiener said.

An outreach meeting is now scheduled for Feb. 8 with the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association. The opening is delayed until at least after the meeting.