We have a big issue with Costa Mesa sober living homes in the city as of this writing. Recently, the city council has increased its battle against the spread of sober-living homes by greatly expanding its 2014 law limiting where and how the drug rehab facilities can operate.
What Are Costa Mesa Sober Living Homes?
Perhaps you are not familiar with any Costa Mesa sober living homes. What are sober living homes, and what purpose do they serve? You can think of them as a halfway house so to speak, a place that will take in people who are trying to sober up and get off of drugs and or alcohol. Generally what has happened in the past is that Costa Mesa sober living homes operators have purchased homes in the city at decent prices. They find a large 5 bedroom home (or bigger), purchase it, then convert rooms so they can have at least 2 persons to a room. Sometimes operators will even convert garages (illegally) so they can house more people.
Sober-living homes are supposed to provide clean and healthy environments for recovering addicts and alcoholics to help them move forward with their lives.
Some of the unscrupulous operators will try to have as many residents as they can, because there are state and insurance programs that pay lots of money for those residents to be there. In some cases, operators are pulling in more than $2,000 per person per month. You can do the math - some of these operators are absolutely killing it.
So yes, they offer a valuable and a good service by helping people recover from drugs and alcohol. However, there can be negative aspects to these homes, especially for the homes around them.
These homes are not too hard to find. You can easily find lists of them online. Usually you can tell where Costa Mesa sober living homes are too if you see vans dropping off lots of people and going into the house. A lot of times they will be groups of men or groups of women, generally in the same age range. Unfortunately for surrounding homes, the residents will tend to congregate either in the front or backs of homes, and oftentimes smoke cigarettes, or talk loudly at all hours. The cigarette smoke will often drift and invade a neighbors privacy. When this happens every day, all day, you can imagine how disappointed local residents become.
Where are we today?
Recently, after much protest from citizens, the City Council in Costa Mesa is taking a firmer stance on these Costa Mesa sober living homes.
The Costa Mesa City Council voted November 3rd, 2015 to extend that law, which previously regulated only sober-living homes in single-family neighborhoods, to cover apartment buildings, condos and almost all zones in the city.
The restrictions limit the number of group homes that can operate in certain zones by requiring the facilities to keep a 650-foot buffer between each other. The law also prevents homes from becoming overcrowded by capping the number of beds in each business to six. Operators will need to apply for a permit and then adhere to the criteria within a year from when the law takes effect in order to remain in business.
Councilwoman Sandy Genis's comment: “The whole point of having sober-living houses in a neighborhood is to transition back to a normal residential environment, and the overconcentration is not conducive to that."
Of course there were protesting groups, as these Costa Mesa sober living homes make a lot of money. At the meeting, fair housing advocates challenged the city’s expanded law, saying it is illegal because it discriminates against recovering addicts – a group protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Unfortunately today, Costa Mesa officials estimate the city has over 200 sober-living homes, which represents almost 30 percent of the county’s total registered facilities. This fact- that the density is so high - led residents to complain that the facilities will create excessive noise, extra traffic, transients, and lots of secondhand smoke and drug use.
Laguna Niguel, San Clemente,San Juan Capistrano, and Newport Beach have also had issues with sober living facilities.
A month after Costa Mesa passed its October 2014 ordinance, several sober-living home operators sued the city twice, arguing that the law discriminates against addicts. In recent months, a federal judge dismissed both lawsuits, writing that the city’s regulations actually help recovering addicts by preventing neighborhoods from becoming institutionalized settings.
I had the opportunity to sell a Costa Mesa sober living home in 2014. One of the neighbors had contacted me because they were so upset with how the home was being run. There were 18 people crammed into a 5 bedroom home, and there was noise, constant smoking, and a history of overdoses at this residence. I was able to track down the owner and actually make a purchase offer, and the operators had to leave the house since their lease was up. My clients rehabilitated the home (which was in terrible disrepair) and sold the home. Most stories don't have such a positive outcome.
If you are a resident and you are affected by a Costa Mesa sober living home, you have a voice. Contact your city council and speak up. This city council is the first to really move forward and protect residents from the havoc that sober living homes can create.
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