City Council looks to change group home rules

Like any true compromise, changes to proposed rules for group homes in Newport Beach may end up pleasing no one.

The latest group to become frustrated with the city’s efforts at zoning reform includes some property owners who hold permits to rent out their homes.

The rule changes, which the City Council has not yet approved, would end the practice of vacation rentals in single-family districts.

“We are just caught up in the web of this unfairly,” said Craig Batley, an agent for Burr White Realty, which manages about half the short-term vacation rentals in the city.

Batley said unlike many group homes, his clients’ rentals already are regulated, they pay hotel bed taxes, and they account for 1% or less of the noise complaints in the city — “They’re not a nuisance,” he said.

The suggested rules also would require group homes to get permits to operate, and they would limit where the facilities could be located.

Residents who have been agitating for stricter rules to govern drug and alcohol recovery homes seem to like the direction the city is going, but they’re not satisfied with a provision that allows one group home per block, or a 75-foot spacing between facilities.

“The city continues to contend there are all kinds of legal reasons why they cannot effectively address this issue,” said Denys Oberman, one of the residents urging tougher rules.

A city report, using data from the state, showed Newport Beach has the county’s highest percentage per capita of beds in state-licensed drug treatment homes.

Oberman and other residents say there’s an over-concentration, and proposed new rules don’t do enough to change that.

“In a residential neighborhood, we feel that that standard definitely still is unacceptable,” Oberman said.

Group home operators may take issue with new restrictions on them, but the city officials said there hasn’t been much feedback yet on that score. Efforts to reach a representative of several recovery homes were unsuccessful Wednesday.

The rules will be vetted by the planning commission, and if they’re approved they’ll go to the City Council, but they’ll likely meet complaints on the way.

“The people who are pushing for it [reform] are not going to be happy, the sober living operators are not happy, you’ve got folks who are renting their homes in R-1 zones that are not going to be happy — I don’t know who’s going to be happy,” Mayor Steve Rosansky said.

The planning commission meets at 6:30 p.m. today at 3300 Newport Blvd. To read the agenda, visit www.city.newport-beach.ca.us and click on the calendar to find the meeting.