Locals:

Newport residents, including a man who claimed he had to hold a recovering addict who broke into his home at bay with a hammer until police arrived, filled Newport Beach City Council chambers Tuesday night complaining of continuing problems with drug and alcohol rehabilitation homes in their neighborhoods.

Numerous residents asked the council to keep up its commitment to enforcing city codes and defending a new ordinance aimed at curbing the spread of rehabilitation homes in Newport. The appeal came on the heels of a recent, tentative U.S. District Court ruling that upheld most of the city’s new rehabilitation home ordinance, but claims state law blocks the city from regulating licensed homes that house six or fewer recovering drug addicts and alcoholics.

“You as a city council need to make a resolution for this situation,” said Newport resident Ronald Herrick. “I can’t emphasize enough that you need to focus on this issue before the situation gets any more out of control.”

Herrick claimed a resident from a local drug and alcohol recovery home broke into his Balboa Peninsula house about a week ago in the early hours of the morning while he and his wife were sleeping. Herrick found the man hiding in his bathroom and held him there with a hammer for about five minutes while he waited for police to arrive, he said. The arresting officer later told Herrick the man was a client from a drug and alcohol recovery home in the area, he said.

Balboa Peninsula resident Barbara Roy, who said she has lived in the area for more than two decades, claimed a rehabilitation home resident recently yelled profanities at her as she walked down the street near her home.

“I have never felt concern for my personal safety until now,” Roy said.

In a tentative ruling issued last week, U.S. District Court Judge James Selna decreed the city cannot force drug and alcohol recovery homes that are already licensed by the state to apply for permits if they house six or fewer people, but allowed the bulk of a new city ordinance aimed at curbing the spread of the drug and alcohol recovery homes in the city to stand.

Councilman Mike Henn reassured residents the city was committed to enforcing the new ordinance. The tentative court ruling was an important victory for the city because the judge allowed most of the ordinance to stand, he said. About 80% of the recovery homes in the city will still be required to file for permits by May 22 if the court moves to make the ruling final, Henn said. Most of the homes will have to undergo a public hearing process to remain open.

“This is a major step forward for the city,” Henn said. “We are looking forward to the fair and effective enforcement of the ordinance for all concerned.”

The city’s largest drug and alcohol recovery home, Sober Living by the Sea, had originally asked the court to strike down the entire ordinance as discriminatory toward recovering drug addicts and alcoholics who live in the city.

In other business, the council gave final approval to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s proposal to shift building space from its lower to upper campus to build a 300,000-square-foot tower. The council voted last month to make the hospital reduce usage of a power plant during times when weather conditions cause the plant to emit plumes of steam and vapor, which neighbors say block their ocean views.

Hoag must also install plants or trellises on the roofs of any parking structures built on the lower campus and install newer and cleaner cooling towers if they need to be rebuilt, among other measures.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.