Orange City Council members are set to consider bailing out of the CA League of Cities for the municipal lobbying organization’s support over Prop 1 – a measure some local officials say could worsen the existing group home issue.
At their 6 p.m. meeting tonight, officials in Orange will be the latest city council to consider dropping out of the organization.
It comes after the cities of Newport Beach and Huntington Beach – spearheaded by Republican city council members – left the League of California Cities earlier this month, protesting the group’s support for Prop 1.
It’s a $6.4 billion statewide bond that’s aimed at getting more people mental health and addiction treatment, along with building more housing for homeless people.
But it could also mean more controversial group homes in neighborhoods.
“It should be noted that housing projects funded by this bond would be considered ‘use by right,’ potentially preempting local zoning law for properties with multifamily residential, office, retail, or parking uses,” reads the City of Orange staff report.
In December, the California League of Cities issued a statement in support of Prop. 1 saying it would modernize the state’s behavioral healthcare system and they would work to address concerns on sober living homes.
“Cal Cities will focus on correcting the overconcentration of these facilities in residential areas and implementing reasonable oversight of unlicensed recovery housing and sober living homes,” reads the Dec. 6 statement.
City officials in Orange aren’t the only ones raising concerns over group homes.
San Clemente Struggles With Group Homes
Earlier this month, San Clemente City Council members unanimously supported two assembly bills to tighten rules on sober living homes amid resident concerns on an influx of recovery homes there and the impacts on their quality of life.
A lack of oversight on group recovery homes is an issue that officials across the county have struggled with for years in a region The U.S. Justice Department has called America’s “ground zero” for addiction treatment fraud.
“My street will never be the same after we’ve personally experienced three homes being sold or rented to addiction care businesses,” said Sarah Schneider, a San Clemente resident, at the March 5 city council meeting.
“They are raking in money hand over fist in the darkness of neighborhoods. Now our children must run and play outside of fraud prone drug and alcohol facilities without regulations. This is not right.”
San Clemente officials are calling on Sacramento to respond as a host of state legislators from OC – on both sides of the aisle – introduce laws aimed at cracking down on recovery homes.
“Of all the cities in southern Orange County, I think San Clemente probably is being struck the hardest by the gap in this whole system of the state to allow these homes with no supervision, no monitoring, no governance whatsoever to come in, not just into business but into our neighborhoods,” said Councilman Steve Knoblock at the March 5 meeting.
One of the bills council members are supporting is Assembly Bill 2574 introduced by Assemblyman Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) that would make unlicensed recovery homes operating as part of a licensed treatment facility unlawful in a residential zone.
Council members are also supporting Assembly Bill 2081 introduced by Assemblywoman Laurie Davies (R-Laguna Niguel) that would require licensed addiction treatment centers to post any state violations on their website.
The support for the bills comes after a 2023 Grand Jury report highlighted a series of issues with group recovery homes.
Prop. 1, Sober Living Homes & the CA League of Cities
Some San Clemente City Council members are also speaking out on a ballot initiative dubbed Prop. 1 that a host of elected officials across the region say will only exacerbate the problems created by sober living homes.
In January, a majority of San Clemente City Council members took a stand against Proposition 1 – a measure on the March 5 primary election that if approved by California voters would mean an increase to more group homes across the state.
As of Monday, Prop. 1 remains to be a close contest with “Yes” votes ahead by about 28,000 ballots.
San Clemente officials are not the only ones raising concerns about what Prop. 1 could mean for sober living homes and the impacts it will have on their communities.
Newport Beach officials this month decided to bail on the California League of Cities, one of the oldest municipal advocacy groups in the state, for their support of Prop. 1 because of their own concerns with sober living homes there.
[Read: Newport Beach Bails on CA League of Cities Over Prop 1]
Huntington Beach officials followed suit and left the California League of Cities last week for similar reasons.
[Read: Another Orange County City Bails on CA League of Cities Over Prop 1]
More Proposed Laws to Regulate Recovery Homes
Other state legislators are also proposing laws to regulate sober living homes.
State Senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) is spearheading a bill that would give city officials more power to respond to recovery homes that are becoming a public nuisance in residential areas.
Meanwhile, State Assemblywoman Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach) has introduced a bill that would make technical changes to an existing law related to regulating and licensing treatment facilities.
State Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) has introduced Senate Bill 1334 that would allow cities to require sober living home operators to get a permit for recovery homes with seven or more residents.
The bill would also allow cities to implement a 1,000 feet distance barrier between recovery homes.
“By better defining and regulating recovery residences, we’ll close the loopholes that have allowed for exploitation and abuse, ensuring that Californians receive the support and care they deserve,” reads a Feb. 21 statement from Newman.
The California League of Cities has sponsored four of the proposed bills.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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