Saying the county needs a way to regulate transitional homes and protect neighbors, Fresno County supervisors Tuesday approved a final limit on how many sex offenders can live in a single home.

But while the operators of one facility agreed with one portion of the ordinance, they said another part will leave 34 registered sex offenders with nowhere to live.

John Coyle, executive director of Centers for Living, told GV Wire his transitional housing facility houses not only sex offenders, but also parolees, homeless, and others.

The county’s new ordinance counts all of those tenants together, meaning they trigger the six-person limit if one sex offender lives in the home.

“We have six in every home because there’s demand,” Coyle said. “When we have a registered offender move out, it’s almost like a bidding war with parole because they know we do a great job … because the alternative is for them to be homeless. Which, from the community’s perspective, is insane.”

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not respond to a request for comment before publication of this story.

Newly elected Board Chair Garry Bredefeld previously said that sex offenders should be all put on an island. Coyle, however, said that of the 2,400 registered sex offenders in Fresno County, about one-third are unhoused.

“2,400 registered offenders in Fresno County. About a third of them don’t have a housing solution,” Coyle said. “And that’s their answer. It’s insane.”

County Ordinance Gives Sheriff’s Power to Regulate Homes

State law says local governments cannot restrict transitional living homes when they house up to six sex offenders in a home. Beyond that, the law leaves it up to cities and counties to decide, said County Counsel Doug Sloan at the Tuesday board meeting.

To prevent “overconcentration” of sex offenders, supervisors Bredefeld and Brian Pacheco sponsored an ordinance in December 2025 to enact the strictest interpretation of the law and give the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office the ability to enforce restrictions.

“For me, it’s about concentration and public safety, and I quite frankly believe … that if they’re doing everything right, then there shouldn’t be an issue,” Pacheco said.

Bredefeld, a clinical psychologist, also said his vote was about public safety.

“I’m concerned not about frankly the rights of the pedophile, but about the rights of the law-abiding citizens to live in safe communities,” Bredefeld said.

Sheriff’s records show 104 calls for service for a home on East Gettysburg Avenue and 122 for the home next door dating to 2020. A majority of those calls fall under the sheriff’s “other” category. Sheriff’s have made three arrests at one home and five in the other.

Neighbors Say Loitering, Drug Deals Done at Homes

The Tuesday board meeting brought out about a dozen neighbors who said they live near transitional facilities. Many attendees praised the passage of the ordinance.

Neighbor Nicole Burger told supervisors that she had seen residents of the facility sitting out on the curb and loitering in the yard. She said their presence made her worry for her 4-year-old and 6-year-old children.

Another resident said seniors in the area are scared to live in their homes and that crime has risen.

“We’ve never had that happen in our neighborhood until this house came,” the resident told supervisors.

Beverly Raine, a neighbor of a home and a director of communications with Kings View Behavioral Health said that Centers for Living “is not a well-run facility.” She talked about overcrowding and said she has witnessed drug deals being done at the homes and that her son has been shoved by a resident.

Fresno County court records also show a settlement reached between John Coyle and property owner Bonanza Retail Partners regarding a nonpayment of rent by Centers for Living’s thrift store, the Second Chance Thrift Store.

Centers for Living Has Low Recidivism Rate: Coyle

Along with neighbors, residents and managers at Centers for Living also spoke at the board meeting. Manager Terry Burke identified himself as a sex offender who left prison two years ago. He said because of Centers for Living’s program, the parole board determined he was low risk for re-offending.

“Without Centers for Living, I could not have progressed as quickly as I did through my recovery,” Burke said. He said he attends required parole programs and also additional ones that work on rehabilitation. He said he got a job recently and bought a home in the past six months but remains a manager with the program.

Burke said they try to be good neighbors and if they knew about the resident Burger spoke about, they would have relocated him.

While Bredefeld said that it is in the nature of pedophiles to re-offend, Coyle said recidivism rates at Centers for Living are low.

In the past seven years, only one person has reoffended and that was the case of a resident who was caught with pornography on his phone, Coyle said.

He said many complaints are made out of fear. “We have the lowest recidivism rates. If you talk to parole, probation, they would tell you it’s unbelievable our results,” Coyle said.

He said residents do a full 15-panel drug test every three days and maintain a strict 9:30 weekday, 11:30 weekend curfew. Residents have GPS on their phones.

Coyle said the religious program they uses treats home residents with respect.

“If I could do it over again, I’d house nothing but sex offenders,” Coyle said. “They’re the most cooperative, grateful people on the planet because this is the most hateful crime in the world. They come out here and we love them, they don’t even know what to do with that emotion.”

Tenants Pay Fixed Rents: Coyle

Coyle said all of his seven homes are 12-person homes. He has escrow closing on seven more homes that will soon be open. Even with the extra space, Coyle said they will not be able to house the displaced offenders.

Nonprofit reporting website Candid reports that Centers for Living has only received four grants totaling $13,000 over the past five years. Coyle said a majority of their operating expenses come from tenants who pay a set rental rate of $625 a month, which only about half pay, he said. They help find employment for people.

He said private donors provided money for his new homes.

“Once people understand what we do, they freaking love it, and they back it,” Coyle said.