Group Homes

It’s peculiar, even paradoxical: Newport Beach, with its idyllic coastline, thriving business community and stellar schools, as close to paradise as a city gets, is also a magnet for sober living homes that some say make for a nightmare on the peninsula. The very qualities that draw the rich and the famous also draw those who have plunged to the depths due to their addictions. Because, after all, what better place to make peace with one’s inner demons? So goes the thinking of those who run such homes.

An independent investigation has determined Newport Beach Mayor Steve Rosansky has no conflict of interest in regulating rehabilitation homes, but a local activist says the mayor has tried to cover up past business dealings with a rehab home operator. A letter obtained by the Daily Pilot to Rosansky from the city’s independent legal counsel Richards Watson & Gershon seems to vindicate the mayor of any wrongdoing. “Not only do I not have any conflict of interest, but I’ve gone out of my way to be very careful in my dealings,” Rosansky said Friday.

This corrects an earlier version of the story. The city of Newport Beach is suing two businesses accused of operating unlicensed group homes in Newport Beach, seven months after the city declared a moratorium prohibiting their operation. Pacific Shores Recovery owners Alice and Robert Conner, and Barry Saywitz, who has an interest in a partnership and the partnership owns several properties that have leases with Morningside Recovery,  are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle recently toured neighborhoods residents say are overrun with rehabilitation group homes. What she saw was surprising. Newport’s City Council authorized its independent legal counsel last week to take action against violators of a moratorium against them. The council recently continued a moratorium on new group homes in Newport Beach through October 2008. Many residents have complained the homes are a public nuisance, and the council plans to work out tighter regulations.

Newport Beach will take legal action against rehabilitation-home owners who are in violation of a moratorium on new homes, officials said Wednesday. “The council is serious about enforcing this moratorium,” Mayor Steve Rosansky said. “Warnings have already been sent out.” The city has sent cautionary letters to two rehab homes that ignored the ban; it also sent letters to two facilities planning to open, Rosansky said. “We’re going to defend and enforce the moratorium against all who are in violation against it,” Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said.

Newport Beach City Council authorized its independent legal counsel Tuesday to take legal action against any rehab group homes that might be in violation of a moratorium on new homes in the city. The council went into an unannounced executive session during a special joint meeting with the Planning Commission to authorize the possible legal action after they were advised by their attorneys there may be homes in violation of the moratorium. City Council members hired the law firm Richards, Watson & Gershon in September to provide more legal advice on rehab homes issue.

A moratorium on new group homes in Newport Beach that began in April will be continued through October 2008, the City Council voted Wednesday. The city recently hired new outside legal counsel and officials wanted more time to work on tighter regulations. Some residents have complained that the city has more than its share of group homes, namely drug- and alcohol-recovery homes, and they are damaging the residential character of city neighborhoods. They also have criticized the city for not acting quickly enough and alleged that some city officials may have conflicts of interest on the issue.