Recovery home ruling postponed

Impartial hearing Officer Thomas Allen decided to postpone until Jan. 12 his decision on whether substance abuse rehab home Newport Coast Recovery will be allowed to continue to operate on the Balboa Peninsula at a public hearing Monday night.

Both the city staff and the group home operator, Mike Newman, asked for the continuance because the permit application the group home was required to fill out as a result of a city ordinance passed earlier this year was incomplete.

Dozens of incensed residents said the continuance was outrageous, and questioned the commitment of Newport Coast Recovery to be a good neighbor if they didn’t even make it a priority to comply with the city’s request in a timely fashion.

The deadline for group homes to turn in applications for conditional-use permits was in May.

Newman said he delegated the responsibility of filling out the application to a lawyer who no longer returns his calls. He pledged to get all of the missing information to the city by Friday.

Right when he finished speaking, Newport Beach resident Max Liskin got out of his seat and stormed out of the room, saying, “Do you have a note from your mother? This is ridiculous.”

He later explained his comments from the podium, saying he lost his temper because Newman’s excuses and inaction represent the “absentee ownership” that has frustrated many local homeowners.

“If they can’t respond to the city, then how are they ever going to respond in a respectful way to their neighbors? To give him a continuance is disrespectful to everyone in this room,” Liskin said, garnering loud applause.

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said the city’s decision to ask for a continuance was merely an extension of the same courtesy the city would give anyone requesting a permit who turned in an incomplete application.

The real deadline to have everything in and reviewed by the city is February.

A hearing was scheduled earlier than that “to encourage Newman to get the rest of the material in,” Kiff said.

Although the city asked for a continuance this time, if Newman returns with any significant portions missing from his paperwork on Jan. 12, the city will most likely recommend denial, Kiff said.

Newman was apologetic about the failure to provide the necessary documents.

He highlighted the fact that he grew up in Newport Beach and had ties to the community.

“My partner and I are not profiteers that came into this community with bad intentions. Our roots here are deep,” Newman said.

Newport Coast Recovery’s proximity to Newport Elementary School and the amount of noise and cigarette smoke that the facility generates were the most commonly cited complaints about the seven-unit apartment building with 29 beds.

A couple of parents even said they took their kids out of Newport Elementary just because the rehab home was so close, and they didn’t want their kids interacting with its residents.

“I know the people who stay here are not hardened criminals, but they are criminals. I’m not against sober living; I’m against this location,” said John Miller of Newport Beach.

Newman said Newport Coast Recovery already has many provisions in place to deal with noise and secondhand-smoke issues.

For instance, the house forbids loud music after 11 p.m. and allows smoking only in designated areas, Newman said.

He also offered to reduce his bed count by 20% as a concession.

“We’re not looking to load up our business and make millions of dollars,” he said. “We’d like to be good neighbors.”

Some residents said the concession was disingenuous, because his facility is only half full as it is.

Parker Steel drove up from San Clemente to speak in favor of the group home, saying he had spent 60 days there himself.

He said he lived in Newport Beach for three years before he went to rehab, during which time he used drugs and trashed his house.

“This place changed my life. You talk about criminals being there; I have a master’s degree in business from Chapman University,” Steel said.

A decision is expected at the next hearing.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.