Homes, city go to mediation

A federal court judge ruled Monday to dismiss part of the recovery home operator Sober Living by the Sea’s lawsuit against Newport Beach.

In the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge James Selna decreed Sober Living by the Sea cannot sue the city in federal court for monetary damages without first going to state court. The company asked for an undisclosed amount of damages in the suit. Sober Living by the Sea claims a new ordinance to regulate rehabilitation homes in the city violates its constitutional property rights and discriminates against recovering drug addicts and alcoholics.

Sober Living by the Sea’s attorney Richard Terzian said Monday the company may eventually file another lawsuit against the city in a lower court to seek damages.

“That is the route we may ultimately take, but we have other matters to attend to — ultimately this ordinance,” Terzian said.

The lawsuit, filed in February in U.S. District Court, seeks to overturn a city ordinance aimed at curbing the proliferation of drug and alcohol rehabilitation homes in Newport Beach. The ordinance, which the city passed in January, requires most homes to get use permits to remain open and will subject the homes to a public hearing process to gain approval. 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.

Attorney Jim Markman, who represents the city on the rehabilitation home issue, said he was pleased overall with Monday’s ruling. Attorneys for Sober Living by the Sea and Newport Beach will go into mediation in the case later this week, he said

“We have a very good mediator and I always go into mediation with the idea to get something positive done, but there are no guarantees,” Markman said.

Sober Living by the Sea is Newport Beach’s largest recovery home operator. The company, which is owned by the drug and alcohol treatment company CRC Health Group, houses recovering drug addicts and alcoholics at anywhere from 20 to 40 homes in Newport Beach, according to various reports.

Many of the rehabilitation homes are housed in rented duplexes on Balboa Peninsula, with each unit possessing its own address, hence the disputed number of homes in the city. Sober Living by the Sea applied for use permits for 19 homes in Newport Beach last month under the new ordinance.

About 13 licensed rehabilitation homes owned by Sober Living by the Sea did not have to apply for permits because of a temporary U.S. District court injunction issued last month in the company’s lawsuit against the city.

Selna decreed the city cannot force drug and alcohol recovery homes that are already licensed by the state to apply for permits if they house six or fewer people.

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