Residents in Smithtown are protesting to keep a group home for six mentally retarded individuals out of their neighborhood.
Family Residences and Essential Enterprises (FREE) would own and run the home. FREE has 130 houses on the Island, with occupants suffering from a broad range of developmental disabilities. Residents in Smithtown say they already have enough of these types of homes in their neighborhood.
FREE officials say their houses fit nicely into communities and that they have not had problems in the past. The state will hold a hearing in the next two weeks to determine the fate of the home.