Distance request nixed

The city of Newport Beach Tuesday rejected the request of many Balboa Peninsula residents to keep drug and alcohol rehabilitation homes from operating within 1,000 feet of each other.

The Newport Beach City Council was expected late Tuesday night to vote on a new ordinance that would curb the spread of rehabilitation homes in Newport Beach.

City officials also rejected resident requests to keep homes within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and bars and limit how many rehabilitation homes could operate in the city.

Many of the rehabilitation homes are protected from discrimination under state and federal fair housing laws.

The proposed ordinance would subject the homes to city approval through a public hearing process. Most of the existing homes would have to get use permits to remain open.

Edward Dilkes, an attorney for Sober Living by the Sea, the largest rehabilitation home operator in the city, warned the council that the ordinance was on shaky legal ground and would likely be found discriminatory if challenged in court.

“I guess I can’t figure out why you are trying to draft this vastly global resolution that is very doubtful legally,� Dilkes said. “Even if its legal, I don’t think its going to work.�

The peninsula residents contend their neighborhoods are overrun with rehabilitation homes that cause problems with traffic, second-hand cigarette smoke and crime.

The issue has provoked a strong emotional response from homeowners in the community. Residents demanded the city take action Tuesday night.

Peninsula resident Lori Morris waved a dingy white shirt in the air in the council chambers Tuesday and claimed the shirt belonged to a female rehabilitation home resident who ran down the street topless near Morris’ home a few weeks earlier.

The woman broke into another peninsula home and locked herself in a bedroom before police arrived on the scene, Morris said.

Police later told the homeowner the woman had not been taking her medication, Morris said.

“The fact is, if that woman had had a knife or a gun, then we’d be talking about a whole different program,� Morris said.

Recovering drug and alcohol addicts come to Newport Beach from across the country for treatment. Peninsula residents said their neighborhoods are not suitable places for rehabilitation centers because of their close proximity to bars and numerous rental houses that often host raucous parties in the summer months.

“We don’t want to be known as the destination rehab place in the United States,� said peninsula resident Craig Batley. “The peninsula is one of the worst places to rehab in California.�

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