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SJ Council asks for a study on recovery group homes
Some neighbors, council members want more control
By Kate Carter
The San Jose City Council last week agreed to continue to research ways of "balancing" requests by group home operators to expand their programs in residential areas with concerns by residents that such expansions aren't good for those in the homes or in the neighborhoods.
The Jan. 22 public discussion was sparked by concerns raised by neighbors in southern Willow Glen and Almaden who are facing increases in occupancy at three nearby group homes: from six to 17 in a 1,906-square-foot home on Kilo Avenue in Willow Glen; from six to 18 in a 2,592-square-foot home on Meridian Avenue south of Willow Glen; and from 6 to 22 in a 3,113-square-foot home on Micro Court. The well-organized neighbors, who have hired attorney Nick Petredis to represent them and their issue to the city, say the service providers are businesses and should be treated as such when they ask for permission to house more than six people in a single-family home. But city officials, who have already approved more than half such "reasonable accommodation" requests submitted by providers of sober-living communities, say the federal Fair Housing Act gives special consideration to such programs. Denying requests to operate "business" programs in residentially zoned areas rather than commercial areas, senior deputy city attorney Brian Doyle said, would require proving they would negatively impact the neighborhoods based on quantifiable factors such as traffic, safety, noise and other measurable reports; fear and bias are discriminatory reasons and are illegal, he said.
The many neighbors who spoke at the public hearing said they didn't oppose the rehabilitation homes or the services they provide for people recovering from substance abuse. But they were concerned about the number of homes and increasing occupancy in residential neighborhoods and feared the homes were not taking into consideration the best interests of their clients or the neighborhoods.
Proposition 36, passed by California voters in November 2000, approved legislation to allow criminal drug and alcohol offenders to receive treatment rather than go to jail. The ensuing increase in demand for treatment programs like Rainbow Recovery, which operates several recovery homes in the county, including the one on Kilo Avenue and the one on Meridian Avenue, has caused them to request permission for more residents in their homes, program officials say.
Some on the city council want more power to control the occupancy in these homes.
"San Jose has a very novel, first-of-its-kind group home ordinance that other places don't have," District Deputy Attorney Julianne Sylva told the Willow Glen Resident. "It's real cutting edge, and it's been in place for a few years."
But it also ties the city's hands, forcing it to comply with state law, Senior Planner Darryl Boyd told the Resident.
"They have changed how we would have dealt with this," said Acting Planning Director Joseph Horwedel of the regulations at the hearing.
But some neighbors said the city is using those regulations as an excuse and not dealing with the real problems recovery homes create in their neighborhoods.
Pamela Baker, who lives near the Meridian Avenue home, said she is afraid for her two children, as well as the children living in the recovery home, when she hears screaming and fighting and sees inappropriate behavior near the home. However, Meridian house manager Deborah Gerkin denied Baker's allegations and invited the council members and community to visit the home.
Following the extensive discussion, the council asked staff to continue to look into ways the city can further ensure the good-neighborliness of recovery homes in residential areas, concentrating particularly on priorities submitted in a memo by District 10 City Councilwoman Pat Dando, District 9 City Councilman John Diquisto, District 3 City Councilwoman Cindy Chavez and Mayor Ron Gonzales. Those priorities include treating recovery homes as businesses that should: conform to certain operational guidelines in residential areas; include minimum shared living space requirements in addition to the existing minimum sleeping space requirements for additional residents in homes; create minimum standards by which group homes must operate; change the notification policy to require notification within a greater distance from a home; and consider a policy to disperse homes throughout the city so no area has significantly more or less than any other.
One of the complicating factors is that home operators face a "Catch-22" when applying for reasonable accommodation. They must be certified by Santa Clara County to receive approval, but the county requires accommodation approval before it provides certification. In addition, code enforcement violations are handled by the city and the county, who often don't share information to come up with an accurate record of a particular home's compliance.
District 1 City Councilwoman Linda LeZotte encouraged the city to deal with the homes and operators on a case-by-case basis, bearing in mind that some homes are providing excellent service, while others are having problems.
"We shouldn't throw out the baby with the bathwater," she said.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
