Fountain Valley residents get update on sober living homes, state efforts
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Fountain Valley residents packed the room at the Recreation Center on Thursday with a chance to hear from and get questions answered by a panel on the subject of sober living homes.
Sober living homes are intended to provide an alcohol- and drug-free environment to help individuals transition from rehabilitation to independent living.
Public outcry has highlighted several concerns, including disruptive and unsavory behavior that some who reside near the homes say has included drug use, noise and other public nuisances in their neighborhoods. Sentiments shared from attendees said that the presence of sober living homes has caused a quality-of-life issue and complicated matters for families raising children.
The Fountain Valley City Council adopted an ordinance for the regulation of group homes — including sober living homes — on March 1, 2024. Operators of sober living homes not licensed by the state were at that time given one year to bring their properties into compliance. The facilities must have a special use permit and they cannot house more than six residents.
Enforcement has begun. Code enforcement officers can make site visits to homes suspected to be operating outside the law to determine their use. In the event an officer is not allowed inside the property to investigate, they may ask neighbors if there is evidence of its operation as a facility subject to the ordinance. The neighbor providing the evidence would have to testify at an administrative hearing.
Existing sober living homes had 90 days from the adoption of the ordinance last year to apply for the requisite special use permit. A dozen sober living homes were approved for one and four had their applications denied, according to officials. Those public hearings took place over a two-week period in February.
Another 11 properties within the city, including 10 sober living homes, have special use permits pending.
Code enforcement officers had issued 22 citations for operating without a special use permit as of Thursday. The first violation comes with a fine of $100. Failure to comply within one week would result in a $200 fine, and each additional week thereafter would incur a $500 fine, Deputy City Manager and Community Development Director Omar Dadabhoy said.
“Right now, code enforcement is really concentrating on verifying and enforcing against those that are not permitted,” Dadabhoy said. “The next step is we’re going to be visiting the ones that we have approved special use permits. … We’re going to ensure that they’re meeting our regulations.”
Additionally, sober living homes and state-licensed facilities should be separated by at least 650 feet. Fountain Valley has 21 state-licensed facilities operating in town, according to data on the city website.
Residents pushed for stricter regulations, with one calling on the city to hire a code enforcement officer dedicated solely to issues related to sober living homes. Others felt that the requirement of 650 feet of separation between sober living homes and state-licensed facilities for individuals in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction did not go far enough.
Alexandra Halfman, legal counsel for the city, said the ordinance prevents the “over-concentration and institutionalized setting that destroys the character of the residential neighborhood and defeats the purpose” of someone entering a recovery home. She cautioned that laws could not be drawn up in a discriminatory manner.
“You’re going into the home to transition into normal life,” Halfman said. “Having all these facilities take up a whole block doesn’t really serve that purpose. The purpose of this ordinance is to keep space, so you don’t end up with a whole cul de sac that’s dominated by these types of facilities.”
Halfman also encouraged residents to notify the city if they experienced “bad neighborly conduct.”
Those provisions mirror an ordinance previously adopted in Costa Mesa. Mission Viejo recently approved the first reading of an ordinance requiring a 1,000-foot separation between group homes.
Public officials said during the town hall meeting that change at the state level as it relates to the regulation of sober living homes depends on a message that addresses the well-being of the individuals in recovery.
“What we discovered is that the reason for the past 15 years that we haven’t been able to get anything, any solutions done that would allow us to help our communities, is because it was perceived as a ‘we don’t want that in our neighborhood,’” said Mission Viejo Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Bucknum, who co-chairs the California Sober Living and Recovery Task Force with Assemblywoman Laurie Davies.
“We feel that if these homes are regulated, and there’s proper oversight, that it will be improved in the neighborhood. We feel if these people are taken care of properly, the impact on the neighborhood will be minimized.”
Kris Murray, executive director of the Assn. of California Cities, Orange County, said cities can serve as a check against bad operators.
“Folks are being harmed in these facilities,” Murray said. “That is an absolute. The state has not been following up, providing its responsible, required legal oversight, so it’s absolutely essential that at the city level we work to take some of that control back. … It’s the for-profit operators that are milking the insurance of these individuals.”
Assemblywoman Diane Dixon said she is working on multiple bills related to the regulation of sober living homes. The bills, she said, would deal with the clustering of such properties, require a letter to be sent to insurance companies indicating there is no medical treatment being done on site, and a third would require a report when a death occurs in a recovery facility.
“We’re all coming at this from a number of ways,” said Dixon, adding that more legislation is being introduced by others at the state level. “The bottom line is that there’s a lot of promising legislation introduced now to tighten the timelines, inform local officials, ensure better care and end patient referrals for profit. This is what is happening. … All of us have to be activists on this topic. … In order to pass legislation, all of us have to make the case that this is potentially a statewide problem, but right now, it’s concentrated here in Orange County and San Diego.”
