City nears rehab deal

The Newport Beach Planning Commission could vote as early as Thursday to limit the number of recovering addicts the largest drug and alcohol rehabilitation home operator in the city may house in Newport.

The limits, outlined in a settlement agreement between the rehabilitation home operator Sober Living by the Sea and Newport Beach, also would bar the company from operating within 1,000 feet from elementary schools and some day-care facilities.

Sober Living by the Sea also would not be able to house or treat clients who are on parole.

The company would be able to operate out of only one building per block in the city, and it would have to limit where the clients may smoke cigarettes.

The agreement would limit the number of beds Sober Living by the Sea may have in Newport Beach to 204 citywide, down from 238 in mid-2007, said Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff.

Sober Living by the Sea also would have to limit the number of beds it has on Balboa Peninsula, the area of the city with the highest concentration of rehabilitation homes, to 156.

“This is the best possible outcome the city could have negotiated,” said Newport Beach Councilman Mike Henn, whose district includes Balboa Peninsula. “It is an outcome that is beneficial for the rest of Newport Beach, the peninsula and West Newport.”

Frustrated by what they perceive as an over-concentration of rehabilitation homes in Newport Beach and concerned about crime, traffic and second-hand smoke in their neighborhoods, Balboa Peninsula and West Newport residents lobbied the city to pass a stringent ordinance earlier this year to regulate the rehabilitation homes in Newport Beach.

The Planning Commission meeting Thursday to discuss the Sober Living by the Sea agreement could turn into a showdown between city officials and residents, who believe the deal sells the city short.

Denys Oberman, a leader of the rehabilitation home activist group Concerned Citizens of Newport Beach, believes that the deal with Sober Living by the Sea does not do enough to keep the city from being overrun with recovery homes.

“This makes a mockery of the ordinance because they are going to allow the largest operator in the city to sidestep the ordinance to no public benefit,” Oberman said.

The ordinance requires most of the homes to undergo a public hearing process to remain open in the city.

Hearings are scheduled to begin next month.

The first, for the 11-bed women’s recovery home Balboa Horizons, is slated for Dec. 4.

The Planning Commission will meet 6:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss the settlement agreement.

If approved by the Planning Commission, the agreement will head to the City Council for final approval.

Calls to Sober Living by the Sea’s attorney, Richard Terzian, and John Peloquin, vice president of operations for CRC Health Group, Sober Living by the Sea’s parent company, were not immediately returned Friday.

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