Newport approves rehab home agreement

The Newport Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an agreement between the city and Newport’s largest operator of drug rehabilitation homes that will cap the number of recovering addicts the company Sober Living by the Sea can house in the city.

A handful of Newport Beach residents Tuesday decried what they claimed were loopholes in the agreement.

Bob Rush, a West Newport resident who has been a vocal opponent of the over concentration of rehabilitation homes in his neighborhood, waived print outs of photographs of stacks of mattresses in a garage he claimed came from a Sober Living by the Sea-run house, claiming the company could sneak in extra patients under the noses of the city’s code enforcement officials.

“We’re stuck with this fatal flaw to this agreement,” Rush said.

The city can inspect any of Sober Living by the Sea’s homes with reasonable notice, to make sure they are following the rules, Newport Beach Assistant Manager Dave Kiff said.

“Everybody gave some, and everybody got some: That is what settlement agreements are all about,” said Richard Terzian, an attorney for Sober Living by the Sea. “There are some members of the community who would like to eliminate all of these facilities, which is not going to happen.”

The 25-year agreement between the city and the rehabilitation home operator Sober Living by the Sea will limit the number of beds the company can have in Newport Beach to 204 citywide, down from 238 in mid-2007.

The company will be allowed to have 156 beds in the area on and around West Newport and Balboa Peninsula.

The Council Chambers were relatively empty compared to the crowds of residents that flocked to city meetings last year to complain about second-hand smoke, litter and crime they claimed the rehabilitation homes caused.

Denys Oberman, leader of the rehabilitation home activist group Concerned Citizens of Newport Beach claimed many residents did not come to the hearing because they were afraid of being intimidated by Sober Living by the Sea. The company videotaped residents speaking out about the homes at a council meeting last year.

The agreement also will bar the company from operating within 1,000 feet from elementary schools and some day-care facilities. Sober Living by the Sea also will not be able to house or treat clients who are on parole under the terms of the agreement.

The company may operate out of only one building per block in the city, and it will have to limit where its clients can smoke cigarettes.

A key part of the deal would allow the city to control the number of smaller, state-licensed rehabilitation homes. State law bars cities from regulating these homes unless an operator voluntarily agrees.

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