Grumbles over rehab facilities intensify

Complaining of illicit drug use and frequent police visits, some Newport Beach residents have ramped up demands that city officials take action to control drug and alcohol rehabilitation homes in the city.

The City Council has wrestled with the issue at least three times in as many years, but this time there seems to be some movement, as residents have not let the issue fade after prodding candidates during the recent council campaign. A conference has been set for March 2 to get other cities to join Newport Beach in applying pressure in Sacramento.

City officials have long said their ability to regulate drug recovery homes is limited by state and federal laws. Some are required to have state licenses, but residents say many homes have opened up without applying for one.

“We’re losing ground. These rehabs are taking over,” said Linda Orozco, who has been following the issue for several years.

She cites drug overdoses and crime, and several residents told the City Council on Tuesday they’ve seen daily parties and drunk people in the street — and they attribute it to the rehab homes.

Julie Ebeling, who lives on 39th Street in West Newport, said 20% of the homes on her street are rehab facilities.

“I’m happy to take my share of it, but this is just a little excessive,” she said.

People with complaints about the rehab facilities stress that they don’t oppose drug recovery itself — they object to what they think is too close a concentration of rehab facilities.

The issue is often a passionate one, and it’s caused some residents to turn a critical eye on Newport Beach city leaders. They say the city hasn’t enforced existing regulations that could make the rehab facilities easier to live with or stop those that break the rules.

“All we’re asking is that the city regulate the houses that are here now, and they’re not,” West Newport resident Lori Morris said.

City Manager Homer Bludau disputed that the city has refused to address the issue.

“Where would be the benefit for the city allowing these homes to come in and disrupt the neighborhoods?” he said. “There is certainly no benefit to us looking the other way.”

Malibu Mayor Ken Kearsley, who’s been fighting a similar battle for eight years in his city, backed up Newport officials’ claims that they can’t do any more than they have.

“I have been down this road so long. I have trampled the halls of Sacramento legislators. I have testified before legislators,” he said. “There is zero, zip, zilch, nada that we can do.”

He’s tried and failed to get bills passed by state lawmakers, he said. In his city, Kearsley said, the problem isn’t drug abuse and crime; it’s largely having a commercial enterprise and the traffic it generates in a residential neighborhood.

In Newport, some rehab homes won’t tolerate irresponsible behavior by their clients, said Michael Ballue, program director for Ocean Recovery on West Balboa Boulevard.

“I understand to some extent where some of the neighbors are coming from,” he said. “Different places have different levels of supervision.”

At Ocean Recovery’s two facilities — one for men and one for women — there is a 10 p.m. curfew for clients, they require clients to be sober to stay, and employees put out cans so clients don’t throw cigarette butts on the ground, Ballue said.

Some facilities are more lax with their rules, he said, but “I just hope that the field as a whole doesn’t get tarred with that brush.”

At the moment, the city seems poised to take action, with Newport planning to sponsor state legislation and use the spring conference to drum up statewide support. And City Councilman Steve Rosansky said it’s likely the city will participate in a committee that resident Bob Rush is asking to form.

If a committee begins researching the rehab issue and suggesting regulations, it may find unexpected support from facilities themselves. Ballue said if they’re suggesting monitoring and more accountability for drug recovery homes, that’s fine.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that,” Ballue said. “I think that would weed out the ones that are doing the stuff they aren’t supposed to.”

QUESTION

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