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Regulations weighed for ‘sober houses’ in Gilbert By Parker Leavitt The Republic | azcentral.com Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:28 PM Gilbert officials are weighing new regulations on “sober houses” that would require them to seek a special permit through a public process before opening their doors to people recovering from substance abuse. The proposed code amendment stems from an apparent proliferation of the facilities, also referred to as halfway houses, and a series of neighborhood complaints related to disturbances, noise and an unfavorable perception of the group homes’ residents, Gilbert zoning administrator Mike Milillo said. Sober houses provide a transitional facility for 10 to 15 residents adjusting from life in an institution to a “real-world” setting without supervision or caregivers. By living with a group, the residents can support one another in their efforts to abstain from drugs or alcohol before moving on to greater independence. The concept is nothing new, but Gilbert’s Land Development Code does not address that type of use in residential neighborhoods. The town’s definition of a “family” allows for as many as five unrelated individuals living in a single household, but sober houses always include more, Milillo said. Gilbert’s code does allow group homes for people with disabilities, but the sober houses differ in that they are not licensed by the state and do not provide care for residents, Milillo said. Last year, town officials became aware of at least two sober houses operating in Gilbert, though one has since shut down, Milillo said. Rather than take action against the other facility, town officials are working with the Small Business Alliance through the town’s Independent Regulatory Advocate program to provide a legal way for the house to operate. Town officials must consider federal law while crafting the new regulations, because the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 includes substance addiction as a disability and requires municipalities to make a “reasonable accommodation” for those needing to live in a community residence. “This provision does mean that a city is required to bend its zoning rules,” said a report from the American Planning Association. Gilbert officials this year began meeting internally to examine how other communities regulate sober houses, Milillo said. None of the Valley communities they looked at had a good model, so town administrators turned to Newport Beach, Calif. Eventually, the town decided on a conditional-use permit process to allow prospective sober houses to apply for permission to operate. That will allow for neighborhood involvement and a Planning Commission decision that can be appealed to the Town Council. “There are neighborhood impacts, potentially,” Milillo said. “You want to make sure whatever you put in your neighborhoods is compatible with the primary uses, which are other residences.” The sober houses could create issues with traffic, parking and substance abuse because there are no caregivers, Milillo said. Officials hope to mitigate those impacts by creating separation requirements for the facilities. Town staff would track the location of each approved sober house to ensure a new one could not open within a certain radius of another, Milillo said. While the language of the code amendment has not been finalized, the town likely will limit the number of occupants in a sober house using a formula based on bedroom square footage, Milillo said. A Planning Commission hearing is tentatively April 3. “We don’t really think that anyone wants to have a house where people are sleeping all over the living room, where there aren’t enough bathrooms and it basically turns into a slum dwelling,” Milillo said. “That’s contrary to everything we try to do in our neighborhoods with our zoning regulations.” The housing bust and ensuing flood of foreclosures appear to have contributed to a rise in the number of sober houses as investors look to find a way to make their properties more productive, Milillo said. “Obviously there’s some demand out there, some sort of population of recovering substance abusers, so they saw an opportunity here,” Milillo said. |
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