Thousand Oaks Declines Role in Lawsuit Against Care Homes

Members of a Thousand Oaks homeowners’ group asked the City Council Tuesday to take over their lawsuit against two community care homes that treat “mentally disordered” persons because of the increasing costs of the suit.

The residents, represented by the Casa de la Senda Homeowners Assn., charged that the Touch of Care Inc. homes on Monterey Court and Coronado Circle a quarter mile apart are a threat to children and hurt property values.

But the council, citing the limits of its powers in the matter, agreed instead to launch an immediate investigation and to lobby state legislators to increase minimum distances between such facilities. The minimum allowable distance now is 300 feet. Mayor Lawrence Horne suggested increasing that to a mile.

An official of the homeowners’ group complained that a patient was seen smoking on top of one home’s wood shake roof, another urinated on a neighbor’s lawn and another lit matchbooks and threw them in the street.

“Over the last few years, these people have not been supervised,” said William Leavy Jr., a past president of the group. “We want the facilities out of here.”

Richard Cohen, president of the Touch of Care firm, said the charges were groundless. He said his clients, treated for depression or anxiety, are not referred to his homes by state mental institutions but by families and doctors. He said none have criminal records or have been determined to be legally insane.

The two homes are licensed by the state Department of Social Services to treat and care for 12 mentally disordered adults, six at each home, said a department spokesman. The term “mentally disordered” is generally defined as a “person with some degree of functional impairment,” the spokesman said.

The Monterey Court home has operated since 1980, Cohen said. The Coronado Circle home has operated since November.

Cohen said the homes have a staff of psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers and others to provide treatment. The patients are driven to a West Los Angeles facility during weekdays for group treatment and job training.

The homeowners’ association filed a lawsuit against the Monterey Court home in 1980, charging that it violated the area’s conditions, covenants and restrictions listed in property deeds regarding single-family occupancy.

A Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the homeowners in 1983, ordering the facility to move. But Cohen was granted a delay while an appeal is being prepared.

Leavy and other residents said they wanted the City Council to take over their case because the association has already spent $25,000 and will have to assess homeowners more if it continues with the case.

The council declined to become involved legally after acting city attorney Mark Sellers advised that such involvement would produce negligible results. The council also directed city staff members to examine a 1980 agreement between the homeowners’ group and Cohen. The agreement, according to the homeowners, called for the removal of the Monterey Court home but has been disputed in a lawsuit.

In a recent letter to the council, Leavy said the patients have not blended into the community, that patients leave the homes unsupervised and that there is “constant tension between homeowners and patients.”

“I see a lot of strange people walk up and down the street, and I don’t like it,” said Loretta Bronk, 37, who lives near the Monterey Court home.

Two Residents Dispute Claims

Cohen, informed of some of the charges about patients’ behavior, said that either the incidents did not happen or were exaggerated. He said supervisory help is always at the homes when patients are, but that patients are free to leave at any time.

Two residents who live near the Monterey Court home disputed the homeowners’ association contentions, insisting that they had witnessed no problems caused by the patients.

Diane Etcheverria said she is “tired of all the stink about it. . . . I don’t feel my 2-year-old daughter is threatened. I think it is so sad that people are so uncompassionate.”

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, acting on complaints from residents, made four trips to the Monterey Court home last year, all in August, said East Valley Station Commander Oscar Fuller. He said there were no arrests and no crime reports were filed.

The council is scheduled to discuss the issue again on Feb. 5.