Group home files complaint against city

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- The owners of an Orange Avenue group home have filed a

federal complaint alleging the city has discriminated against their

sober-living facility and the recovering alcoholics it serves.

Robert and Tracy Tameny, owners of Coastal Recovery Living at 1976

Orange Ave., sent a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Housing

and Urban Development on Oct. 2. In it, they contend the city is

harassing them to shut down their facility.

“The people that we get are Costa Mesa citizens, and Costa Mesa is

trying to discriminate and get rid of them,” Robert Tameny said, adding

that the city is violating fair housing laws by discriminating against

the recovering alcoholics at the home, who are considered disabled.

But attorneys for the city say the complaint -- which the federal

department has begun to investigate, as required by law -- is simply

another stalling tactic in an ongoing legal battle.

Costa Mesa has battled with the Tamenys for more than a year on

another legal front after the city filed a civil lawsuit against the

sober-living home.

In that lawsuit, the city alleges the Tamenys violated city codes that

prohibit more than six people from living in a residential service

facility. Last week, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled in favor

of the city and restricted the number of residents to six.

The housing complaint was filed between the time the judge promised to

make a decision on the case and when the decision was released.

In the complaint, Tameny claims the city’s lawsuit unfairly targeted

their facility because it required them to file for a conditional-use

permit in 1999, even though they had been operating the home for eight

years.

The owners of Coastal Recovery Living, also known as the Orange House,

used to operate out of two houses on Orange Avenue but were forced to

sell the house at 1978 Orange Ave. to cover their court costs, they also

claim.

Jeff Goldfarb, independent counsel to the city, said the latest

complaint is just another stall tactic.

Tameny already argued in court that the city was violating fair

housing laws and lost, he said.

The owners of the home are trying to find someone who will rule in

their favor, he added.

“It’s like when you’re a kid and you ask your mom for a cookie and she

says no. You know you’re not supposed to have one but what do you do? You

go ask your dad the same question, hoping for a different answer,”

Goldfarb said.

By law, the department of housing must undertake an impartial

investigation to determine if a violation has occurred. In a letter from

the department of housing, the city was asked to respond to the Tamenys’

allegation. But the department has “made no determination as to whether

the complaint . . . has merit,” the letter reads.

-- Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .