In an odd turn of events Monday, the New Hanover County Commissioners approved, reconsidered and finally tabled a proposed six-resident limit on group recovery homes. The unorthodox move was the result of two extended discussions over a nonprofit group’s original request to allow up to eight residents per group home in residential neighborhoods.
At issue: an existing Oxford House residence operating in violation of current ordinances; the need for group support and affordable housing to help people in recovery get back on their feet; a federal law requiring communities to make “reasonable accommodation” for people with disabilities, including substance abuse; the question of how these homes affect neighborhoods; and whether the organization seeking the eight-resident limit has “a pattern” of noncompliance with zoning laws.
Oxford House is the umbrella organization for a network of self-governing, self-supporting recovery homes. Curtis Taylor, a former Oxford House resident who now is an outreach coordinator for the organization, said the existing home in the Lansdowne neighborhood could be forced to close if it must house fewer than eight residents.
The women who live there are just re-entering the work force, he said. “The rent on that address is $2,500 a month, plus utilities and supplies. The burden that would place on [the women] would be too cumbersome.” In North Carolina, all Oxford Houses operating have a curfew and allow for random drug testing, and residents who relapse are immediately expelled, Taylor said.
The issues are complex, said Commissioner Woody White, who asked to allow planners time to research how the city of Wilmington handles these cases. Unlike the county, the city has a classification for group homes of the sort that cater to people in recovery.
White, a lawyer who has represented drug and alcohol abusers in court, was torn. “If these people are truly in recovery, I don’t see a problem here,” White said. But he originally voted with fellow commissioners Skip Watkins and Rob Zapple in favor of the six-person limit. Chairman Jonathan Barfield and Vice Chair Beth Dawson supported the higher number.
Zapple, who also said he supports the mission of Oxford House and others like it, wondered about crime, and said it seems that more people increases the risk of disrupting an established neighborhood. “It’s tough to have a group home next to you,” he said.
Commissioners Beth Dawson and Jonathan Barfield voted to accept the higher resident limit;“When there’s no place to go, what do you do?” Barfield said. “I just can’t see telling two women, ‘You’ve got to move out of your home when you’re on the way to recovery.’”
The group home for women recovering from alcoholism opened in violation of a county ordinance that says no more than three unrelated people can live in the same home unless it is designated as a family care home — which requires a live-in supervisor and is limited to six residents.
“It seems to be a business model to establish a home out of zoning compliance” and then ask for permission to stay, Watkins said. With a 40-year track record, Oxford House should know enough to check local ordinances before opening a home, he said.
Greg Heafner, the Chapel Hill attorney who represents Oxford Houses in North Carolina, insisted that is not the case. He also suggested that the planning staff’s recommendation — which would allow group homes to request permission to exceed the six-person limit by petitioning the Zoning Board of Adjustment — does not meet the definition of “reasonable accommodation” under the federal Fair Housing Act requires reasonable accommodations. Dawson said there is no guarantee the zoning board would grant an exemption, and twice moved for the higher limit.
But following extensive discussion after White asked the board to reconsider its vote, the decision to table the issue was unanimous.
email Tricia Vance at [email protected]
