The planned sober house in Chardon is here to stay.
That was the message local, state and federal officials made clear at the Chardon City Council meeting Aug 13.
Lawyers, recovering alcoholics and addicts, and two residents opposed to the house at 114 Water St. packed council chambers.
Chardon Planning and Zoning Administrator Steve Yaney said in early June, Melanie Blasko, executive director of Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers, told him the organization was buying the house and explained it will provide housing for up to five men who have completed their three- to nine-month treatment and need a place to live among other recovering addicts determined to stay sober.
After talking with city Solicitor Jim Gillette, Yaney said a sober house met all the zoning regulations as a permitted use and required no variances, public hearings or notification of neighbors.
Gillette said the residents may stay at the sober house for as long as necessary and are required to abstain from using drugs or alcohol. There will be a qualified supervisor at the house when the residents are there, but the men must be employed.
“All the residents are expected to participate in a 12-step program and attend four meetings a week for Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous,” Gillette said, adding each must have a sponsor to assist in his sobriety.
The city does not have the power to keep a residence out because it is legal for five unrelated individuals to live under one roof, he said.
“Legally, under the Federal Housing Act, a municipality cannot restrict the definition of a family to mean only persons who are related,” Gillette said.
Additionally, alcoholics and addicts who are in recovery are protected against discrimination because the physically and mentally handicapped fall into the protected class.
“Addiction is a medical condition,” he said, adding a recovering addict is defined by the Social Security Administration as someone who may be impaired to a point where he or she cannot work, due to previous drug or alcohol use.
Finally, Chardon is already home to a number of adult care facilities that house and assist individuals who are mentally ill, Gillette said.
“The city does not know where they are. The state has preempted municipalities from control over those facilities,” he said.
The only role the city can play in the situation is to issue a zoning permit. To deny a permit would be in violation of the federal and state laws, he said.
“There is no appeal to the council, there is no appeal to the zoning commission,” Gillette said. “I suppose the residents can challenge it by taking the issue to court. I can only say (the city ordinance) complies with the Federal Fair Housing Act.”
Mayor Phil King said Gillette’s four-page memorandum will be put on the city website.
Patricia Kidd, an attorney and program executive director with the Federal Fair Housing Administration, said it has been 14 years since the act passed and it protects recovering alcoholics and addicts.
City residents could fight the matter in court, but it is the wrong direction to take, she said.
“Instead, what needs to be done is take some time to have some understanding,” Kidd said. “Try to get some education on what it takes to go through the (treatment) program. It takes great strength and great courage to get better.”
Those who complete treatment often should not go home to a dysfunctional environment, so they apply for housing in a residential recovery facility, where they benefit from living with others working to gain strength in sobriety, she said.
“They should be able to do so without opposition. Fear is not an excuse for bigot-mindedness,” Kidd said, adding the sober house is in Chardon to stay and neighbors are welcome to complain all they want.
“If it goes beyond that, you won’t be dealing with the city — you will be dealing with my office. I have no problem taking people to court to protect individuals,” she said.
Kidd credited LGRC Executive Director Melanie Blasko for her grant-writing efforts, finding the right location for a sober house and going through all the right channels to make the project happen.
“It’s disheartening to meet a wall of opposition. The community needs to embrace the change. (The residents) aren’t pedophiles — they’re just like us,” she said.
Cheryl McCourt, president of Bridges to Discovery, said she opened Opal House for up to 20 recovering women at a time in downtown Jefferson more than two years ago and it has been peaceful.
“Yes, I do have residents who relapse, but they don’t want to stay around. They leave,” she said. “Give these people a chance.”
Dennis Mickelson, a recovering addict, has been a counselor and now works for LGRS.
“I understand the trepidation people have, but this is a perfect place,” he said. “We may have problems in this neighborhood, but not in this house. These five guys are not the problem.”
In four years, Lake and Geauga counties have reported 150 deaths from opiate overdose, he said, adding the epidemic is gotten worse.
Dan Bailey, one of several recovering addicts and alcoholics who attended the meeting, said he went to a sober house in Ashtabula after a 30-day treatment program because he knew he couldn’t continue to stay with his uncle, a practicing addict.
Now he is manager of a sober house with a decent success rate. Besides getting help to stay sober, the residents learn how to function in the real world and gain the tools they need to do so, long-term, Bailey said.
“These houses are such a great thing, spiritually lifting. Recovering addicts and alcoholics need something like this,” he said. “Without AA and NA, the streets would be over-run.”
Ali Dreher, who owns a house near the sober house, congratulated those attending on their sobriety.
“I’m not scared of you or you or you or anyone in here,” she said. “The (sober) house happens to be just a mere 16 feet from us, looking down on us. We have kids.
“It’s not the addiction that scares me, just the thought of multiple men rotating through.”
Dreher said they moved into the neighborhood figuring on getting to know and trust the neighbors, adding having strangers come and go is not a good thought.
“We’d just get to know five, then someone else is there,” she said, adding she understands there is no legal path to stopping the sober house.
“We’re not bad people. We’re just scared for our kids,” Dreher said.
Blasko said she has been working with addicts for 44 years and the LGRC has a good record with 68 to 72 percent of its clients remaining sober.
“We have a very good reputation for what we do. What we do works,” she said, adding a sober house is the missing link in Chardon. “I am very, very committed to this. Every day we advocate for people in recovery. They deserve to get their lives back. We want them to succeed.”