City rules unjust, rehab official says

The largest drug and alcohol rehabilitation home operator in Newport Beach has filed a federal fair housing complaint against the city claiming the city’s new ordinance to regulate the homes is discriminatory.

Sober Living by the Sea’s complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, calls a yet-to-be implemented hearing process set up by the city to approve the homes “rigged,” said Attorney Jim Markman, who represents Newport Beach on the rehabilitation homes issue.

“We haven’t even hired a hearing officer yet, and they’re already calling the process rigged,” Markman said.

The ordinance, which went into effect in February, requires most homes to get use permits to remain open and will subject the homes to a public hearing process to gain approval. The city is in the process of hiring an independent hearing officer to evaluate the homes.

The city received a letter March 14 notifying officials about Sober Living’s complaint, but has not formally responded yet, Markman said.

Sober Living’s federal complaint — the second complaint of its kind filed against the city this year — could be an attempt get the federal government to investigate or even prosecute claims of discrimination against the city, Markman said.

“Basically, they want the Federal Justice Department to fund their fight,” Markman said.

John Peloquin, vice president of operations for CRC Health Group, which owns Sober Living By the Sea, could not immediately be reached for comment, but he told the Daily Pilot last month he believes Newport’s new rules discriminate against recovering drug addicts and alcoholics who seek treatment in the city. Residents who claim the rehabilitation homes bring crime and other problems into their neighborhoods pushed the city to enact stricter laws to govern the homes.

“It has become more evident that this ordinance is designed to target alcohol and drug providers and patients to resolve a broad issue/problem of the Newport Beach community,” Peloquin wrote in an e-mail to the Pilot in February. “This ordinance does not solve anything other than the elimination of needed alcohol and drug treatment centers within the city.”

Sober Living by the Sea’s complaint comes on the heels of a lawsuit it filed last month in United States District Court. The lawsuit seeks to overturn Newport’s new ordinance. Sober Living by the Sea alleges in the suit the city’s new rules violate federal fair housing laws. Recovering drug addicts and alcoholics are classified as disabled under the federal Fair Housing Act.

Pacific Shores Recovery also filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in February, claiming a city-imposed moratorium on opening new rehabilitation homes in effect before passing the new ordinance was discriminatory. Pacific Shores is one of two local rehabilitation homes the city sued in November 2007 for allegedly violating the moratorium. The suit claims Pacific Shores opened new residential facilities for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts while the moratorium was in effect.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].