Empower cities in sober house fight
Sober houses have become a plague upon some South Florida cities. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, help finally may be coming.
In1999, the departments of Housing and Urban Development and Justice determined that the Fair Housing Act prohibits local governments “from making zoning or land use decisions or implementing land use policies that exclude or otherwise discriminate against protected persons, including individuals with disabilities.” Among those “protected persons” are recovering addicts seeking to live in group homes— sober houses.
Because of that joint statement, Boca Raton lost a court challenge to a city ordinance that restricted sober houses to areas zoned for multi-family housing and hospitals. Mayor Susan Haynie considers sober houses to be businesses and thus incompatible with single-family neighborhoods. In 2012, Delray Beach tried unsuccessfully to keep the Caron Foundation from operating two sober houses in mansions near the ocean.
The federal government may have been well intentioned 17 years ago; good sober houses can help those sincerely trying to stay clean. The many bad operators, however, have exploited those good intentions and many of those in recovery. Bad operators commit insurance fraud, churn patients and dump them on the street, ruining neighborhoods and straining police and fire-rescue departments.
Frankel’s coastal, Fort Lauderdale-to-West Palm Beach district likely includes thousands of sober houses. A year ago, Frankel wrote to HUD Secretary Julian Castro and Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Her eight-page letter sought guidance on how cities could combat “the unregulated proliferation of sober homes in residential neighborhoods.” Frankel noted that there isn’t even a legal definition of a “sober home.” They hardly existed in 1999. Unstated but implied in the letter was that Washington had no idea what that joint statement had allowed to happen.
On Monday, Washington got an idea. Frankel brought in HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Gustavo Velasquez and Associate General Counsel for Fair Housing Jeanine Worden. With Frankel and city officials, they toured Delray Beach, which The New York Times nearly a decade ago called “the epicenter of the country’s largest andmost vibrant recovery community.” They met privately for two hours with mayors from Hollywood to Riviera Beach and other local officials.
Though Velasquez only made a statement at the news conference following the meeting, Frankel said hewas “shocked” by what he saw and heard. In just one year, Frankel said, a single sober house generated115 emergency calls for overdoses. Others at the meeting confirmed that the visit had surprised Velasquez.
The goal nowis to get an updated version of the 1999 statement. Frankel said HUD and DOJ lawyers would review proposed changes. A new version, she said, probably wouldn’t need approval fromthe White House.
Frankel hopes the new version can be ready by August. Timing is important. The issue can’t slide into next year. Even if Hillary Clinton becomes president, there could be a delay until new appointees take over. If Donald Trump becomes president, the changes could die.
Though the joint statement says the Fair Housing Act “does not pre-empt local zoning laws,” pre-emption has been the practical effect. The statement could not have anticipated thewaves of sober houses and the abuses.
The new version must address Frankel’s question by providing as many specifics as possible. Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein wants to know “how many (sober houses) is too many?” Can cities license and regulate sober houses to make sure they are properly operated? Frankel said those at the meeting were “clearly told” that cities can “deny a public accommodation when it changes the character of a neighborhood.”
If the changes to the joint statement “empower the cities,” as Frankel hopes, a city then must pass an ordinance. That ordinance almost certainly will drawa legal challenge. Given the cities’ collective interest in upholding any ordinance, Glickstein suggests a legal defense fund to which affected cities might contribute.
Frankel is “hoping that this approach is the right approach.” In fact, it’s the only approach. The Florida Legislature can’t provide enough help. A functioning Congress could update the Fair Housing Act, but Frankel said Republicanswould try to end all the needed protections, not just the unneeded protection for bad sober house operators.
No one at Monday’s events wants to drive outwell-run sober houses. Regulation, though, would benefit those in recovery, not just residents whose neighborhoods are at risk. Marc Woods, Delray Beach’s rental housing inspector, said that at badly run sober houses “there is no hope of these clients getting better.”
But nowthere is hope of help for those clients and beleaguered cities in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Washington, which so often disappoints, must not disappoint on this issue.