REHAB HOMES ANGER NEIGHBORS; FACILITIES RAISE FEARS IN MISSION HILLS.Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer Michael Bresnahan hoped for a warmer welcome into his new Amboy Avenue neighborhood, but instead the director of a drug and alcohol recovery program said Wednesday that he's facing a witch hunt. Less than a month after opening his nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. Shepherds Recovery program in two adjacent homes in a residential area, Bresnahan is facing a barrage of complaints from angry neighbors. Residents say they were never notified by the city, state or Bresnahan about the new facilities. At a community meeting Wednesday evening, residents said they fear that the facilities, which are within two blocks of two elementary schools elementary school: see school. , a day-care center day-care center: see day nursery. and a senior citizens home, will be a detriment to a community already plagued with problems. ``We're not against the program - those programs are very much needed. But it's not the ideal area to put them,'' Sandra Sotelo, a Mission Hills resident for 45 years, said earlier Wednesday. Sotelo, who lives eight houses away from the facilities, hosted the meeting, attended by city officials and about 30 residents. ``There are drug dealers; there's a liquor store on every corner. . . . The police know of the cruising, all the shootings, all the prostitution up and down Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon can refer to several things:
It was only through word-of-mouth that residents learned of the facilities, which on the exterior look like single-family dwellings, Sotelo said. But Bresnahan, who planned to hold an open house after establishing the facilities, said residents never gave him a chance to approach them. ``They have already made up their minds that they don't want Shepherds Recovery there,'' said Bresnahan, a licensed and ordained or·dain tr.v. or·dained, or·dain·ing, or·dains 1. a. To invest with ministerial or priestly authority; confer holy orders on. b. To authorize as a rabbi. 2. minister through the Evangelical Church Alliance The Evangelical Church Alliance ("ECA") is an Inter-denominational association of Christian ministers that exists to serve the goal of spreading the Christian religion. . ``I can't see that I can do anything to change their minds.'' Residents complained that the program appears to be a business and does not belong in a residentially zoned neighborhood. But according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. state health and safety codes, drug and alcohol recovery facilities that provide services to six or fewer people are exempt from local ordinances A local ordinance is a law usually found in a municipal code. In the United States, these laws are enforced locally in addition to state law and Federal law. See also
The federal Fair Housing Act of 1988 provides protection from discrimination for facilities serving people recovering from drug- and alcohol-related problems. Jess jesse, jess a leather strap placed around each shank of a hawk used for hunting, for the attachment of a leash. Gonzalez, a spokesman for the City Attorney's Office, told residents they could use the city's nuisance abatement A reduction, a decrease, or a diminution. The suspension or cessation, in whole or in part, of a continuing charge, such as rent. With respect to estates, an abatement is a proportional diminution or reduction of the monetary legacies, a disposition of property by will, when ordinance to file any complaints. At present, four ``sober living residents'' who have already gone through recovery programs live in the two Amboy Avenue homes. The facilities do not have licenses, but applications are pending, said T. Maria Caudill, deputy director of the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. Once the licenses are granted - a process that could take eight to 14 weeks - Bresnahan will begin the recovery program. Recovery residents must commit to 35 hours of meetings a week, household chores, and quitting drugs and alcohol. Six men ages 18 and up will live in each house. Bresnahan said he is licensed to provide drug and alcohol recovery services. He has operated a similar facility in Sylmar near an elementary school since 1991. ``The kids pass by every day and there's never been a problem,'' said Bresnahan, himself a recovering alcohol and drug addict Any individual who habitually uses any narcotic drug so as to endanger the public morals, health, safety, or welfare, or who is so drawn to the use of such narcotic drugs as to have lost the power of self-control with reference to his or her drug use. who has been sober for 10 years. Bresnahan acknowledged that some of the facilities' residents have prison records, but said the convictions are drug- or alcohol-related. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: Sandra Sotelo, left, walks with neighbors near where drug and alcohol rehab homes have opened in her Mission Hills neighborhood. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News Map: - Shepherds Recovery - S.F. Elementary - O'Melveny School Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion