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City Beat
Residents join forces to oppose rehab home
Neighbors on Kilo voice opposition at Oct. 17 hearing
By Moryt Milo
Opposition to Rainbow Recovery's neighborhood rehabilitation program continues to gather momentum, as Willow Glen neighbors on Kilo and Foxworthy avenues team up with adjoining neighbors.
Kilo Avenue residents living in San Jose City Council District 9 learned at the San Jose Planning Director's hearing on Oct. 17 that nearby neighbors on Meridian Avenue in District 10 are also opposing a request by Rainbow Recovery to increase the number of occupants in a home in their neighborhood.
Rainbow Recovery, a rehabilitation program for adults participating in drug and alcohol recovery, presented four such requests at the hearing. Kilo and Meridian avenue residents were the most vocal about the two requests affecting their neighborhoods.
San Jose City Principal Planner Darryl Boyd said that in light of all the testimony and documentation presented by the neighbors at the hearing, the planning department would defer its recommendation to Oct. 31. The department later deferred the recommendation to Nov. 14.
The recovery program is seeking approval to increase the occupancy in the Kilo Avenue home from six to 16 tenants, and six to 18 in the Meridian Avenue home. Until a request to increase the allowable limit is filed--six residents and two staff--there is no legal requirement to notify neighbors that a recovery home is located in their community, said Deputy District Attorney Julianne Sylva, who works with drug and alcohol certification programs.
The majority of the approximately 50 people present at the Oct. 17 hearing raised concerns about either the Kilo Avenue or Meridian Avenue home.
Bruce Brunger, who spoke for the Kilo Avenue neighborhood, said residents spent more than 60 hours preparing their case, which included a lengthy PowerPoint presentation and extensive handouts detailing conversations with the planning department, Rainbow Recovery's assistant director Andy Kubica, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office and the district attorney's criminal investigators.
Brunger highlighted issues that seemed to contradict what Rainbow Recovery told Kilo Avenue residents and how it has been presenting itself to the city of San Jose.
Rainbow Recovery is a for-profit business. Residents said it is a violation of the zoning code and their neighborhood's Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions, which prohibit the operation of a business.
Brunger also raised concerns about the supervising staff in the rehabilitation homes, noting that staff members are also recovering from drug or alcohol addictions, which "neighbors believe is a formula for disaster," he said.
Brunger said documents submitted by Rainbow Recovery to the planning department indicated the program was "completely self-supporting," and not funded by city, county or state funds. However, he said Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors notes from meetings on April 20, 1999, and June 8, 1999, indicate that Rainbow Recovery received $24,285 and $273,000 in separate payments from the county.
District Attorney Criminal Investigator David Byers confirmed to the Willow Glen Resident and neighbors living on Kilo Avenue that Rainbow Recovery is a county-subsidized program.
Brunger also said neighbors are concerned about the transient nature of the program's population. Individuals in Rainbow Recovery are transitioning out of rehabilitation into a clean-and-sober living environment. Many live in the transitional homes for 90 days, Byers said.
Boyd asked Kubica for clarification about how the property on Kilo Avenue is used. Kubica said he is the assistant director at Rainbow Recovery and also the property owner and landlord at the Kilo Avenue home.
Kubica reiterated that Rainbow Recovery had met all the city guidelines in the application process.
When residents on Kilo and Meridian avenues discovered they were in similar situations, Meridian Avenue neighbors invited several Kilo Avenue residents to attend their Oct. 18 neighborhood meeting to compare information.
In a videotape provided to The Resident by Brunger, neighbors met with Sylva, Byers, Boyd and Jim Cogan, aide to District 10 city councilwoman Pat Dando, at the Almaden Community Center, 6455 Camden Ave.
The meeting was organized by Meridian Avenue residents who, within the last year, had numerous problems with Rainbow Recovery tenants in their neighborhood. Until the Oct. 17 director's hearing, the Meridian Avenue residents had been unaware of their options. Only after listening to the Kilo Avenue presentation did Meridian Avenue neighbors learn that the district attorney's office was the department to contact for investigating neighborhood complaints.
Boyd said that no matter how unfair the law seems, these homes are no different than any other home rented by a landlord-owner in a neighborhood.
"It is very difficult to deny one of these requests," he said during the meeting. "The city is stuck with this as adopted by state law."
Boyd also said his department's main responsibilities are strictly involved in the area of code enforcement and not with issues concerning tenants occupying the rehabilitation home. These responsibilities were under the jurisdiction of the district attorney's office, he said.
Sylva said neighbors can write letters to change the laws and improve the process of notification, call the police if there is an immediate problem and call the district attorney's office directly to investigate problems. The district attorney's hotline number is 800.447.1161.
Sylva told The Resident rehabilitation homes are opening up throughout the county. "Specific programs like Rainbow Recovery are choosing nice neighbors for their clients," she said. "These providers want to have the children living in nice neighborhoods and going to good schools."
But one Meridian Avenue neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, said neighbors have called police several times about the recovery home because of fights, loud parties and concern over the children.
"It's been like a bad movie," she said.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
