Anoka has plan to regulate sober homes

It all started with stories of recovering addicts being packed into unregulated sober homes in Anoka -- sleeping on armchairs or in closets because the homes were overcrowded.

The examples led to a yearlong moratorium on sober homes that recently ended. Now city officials think they have a plan for monitoring and inspecting this type of housing.

At Monday's City Council meeting, members gave initial approval to a policy defining sober homes and a system to license them.

"There were situations of predatory landlords who were renting couches, closets and armchairs to vulnerable adults who ... had nowhere else to go and didn't dare complain," said Council Member Jeff Weaver. "Our goal was to make sure that these folks who are in the dregs of their lives and have hit the bottom have good, safe housing."

But sober home owners say that the stories about unsafe living conditions have been grossly overexaggerated and that cities that try to regulate living conditions for recovering addicts are in danger of breaking federal anti-discrimination laws.

John Curtiss, president of the Minnesota Association of Sober Homes and The Retreat recovery center in Wayzata, has worked with the cities of Anoka and St. Paul on their efforts to define what a good-quality sober home is.

In many of the situations he has seen, he said, city officials are reacting to a particular problem property in a community.

The new ordinance requires owners of sober homes to apply for a license with the city, allow inspections of their buildings, and submit a management plan for their businesses. The City Council will be able to revoke a license if the owner does not comply.

Council Member Phil Rice said these types of rules need to be in place because the state doesn't regulate sober homes.

"This ordinance is a response to a bigger problem," Rice said. "Our state needs to take a look at the large dollars that are being squandered in our treatment model. We're allowing for-profit businesses to take advantage of the system."

No state guidelines exist

Curtiss said sober homes do not fall under state guidelines because they typically don't offer services and are supposed to be for a group of people who choose to live together to remain substance-free.

"We decided that's not constitutional to choose where you can live or can't," Rice said. "But we do advocate that we shouldn't collect our treatment facilities in close proximity to each other."

The city ultimately wanted to create a plan that would ensure recovering addicts had a safe place to live, without infringing on their rights to choose their homes, council member Weaver said.

"It's important that these folks that are in those programs are treated with fairness and respect during a time that isn't very pleasant in their lives," he said.

The City Council is expected to give final approval to the licensing program in early May.