REHABILITATION CENTER, NEIGHBOR AT ODDS IN SIMI.

Byline: Ann-Marie Sanchez Daily News Staff Writer

It was well past midnight almost a year ago when Karen Michaels was jolted awake by the roar of what sounded like a dump truck just outside her bedroom window.

She peered outside, where strange men were shouting ``Welcome home, welcome home,'' as they moved furniture into the house next door.

That was Michaels' introduction to the Victory Outreach Ministries, a Christian rehabilitation home for an ever-changing roster of recovering drug and alcohol addicts, former gang members and ex-prison inmates.

It also was her introduction to a maze of state and city codes designed to regulate sober-living rehab centers - but which Michaels says aren't restrictive enough.

``I'm sick of this,'' Michaels said. ``I'm sitting here and I have no rights. It's the worst situation I've been in my whole life.''

Over the last year, Michaels has called the city at least a dozen times to register complaints about activities at the Cochran Street center.

She said she complained about crowding at the house and the high number of intimidating-looking men visiting the rehab center at all hours of the day and night. She complained when Victory Outreach held religious services in its garage. And she complained when the nonprofit organization held garage sales at the home almost every weekend.

As a result of Michaels' complaints, the city sent warning letters to Pastor Robert Battle, who oversees the Victory Outreach program in Simi Valley. In each instance, Battle complied with the city's requests: He moved his religious services, reduced the number of men living in the home, and held fewer garage sales.

``I stopped everything and anything she complained about except having people come over to ask me to pray with them,'' Battle said. ``I'm a pastor and I'm going to pray. I won't deny Jesus, and I will not do that for her.''

Battle, his wife and up to three Victory Outreach clients live in the four-bedroom home, he said. They are supported through church tithings, private donations and work the men get through an organization called Labor Ready in Thousand Oaks.

City officials say that since the Victory Outreach center maintains there are fewer than six people living in the house at any time, they must be treated just like any other residential home.

``It's an unfair situation where the state has pre-empted local control,'' said Mayor Greg Stratton. ``As long as they maintain it as a residential building and there are no more than six people, there's really nothing we can do.''

State and county officials said that alcohol- and drug-free houses are subject only to local zoning requirements and state landlord/tenant laws. And local governments have no say in where the centers operate.

``We encourage these organization to get licensed, but since they are in the private sector and they don't have funding from us, they're pretty much on their own,'' said Judi Balcerzak-Dyer, deputy director of Ventura County's alcohol/drug treatment and recovery programs. ``It's the whole church vs. state situation. They're not obliged to have (licensing), and they pretty much can do what they want to do.''

A license is required only if the facility provides medical treatment or detoxification or has a structured program of alcohol and drug education, Balcerzak-Dyer said. But because Victory Outreach has no such programs - church officials said the male clients receive only spiritual guidance - it is outside the jurisdiction of the licensing board.

The Simi Valley center is one of more than 200 homes and churches operated by the worldwide Victory Outreach Ministries, Battle said. The other homes in Southern California are in Oxnard, Lompoc, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, where officials said they have no record of any complaints against the organization.

Still, Patricia Fridrich, who lives next to the Lompoc Outreach home, said she is uneasy about having former addicts as neighbors.

``We haven't had any problems with them, but I was very skeptical at first because we have a daughter,'' Fridrich said. ``Some may have had criminal records . . . I can't say I'm 100 percent satisfied. While what they're doing is wonderful, you just never know.''

Pastor Rueben Tamayo said his Victory Outreach home in Lompoc has been a part of the community for the past year, and he believes that neighbors support the organization's efforts to keep men ``on the straight and narrow.''

``My experience has been very good and everyone knows who we are,'' said Tamayo. ``I can remember only one person who complained to us because we were playing drums at an 8 a.m. service, but after that we just stopped and have had no problems since.''

Battle's yearlong lease on the Cochran Street home in Simi Valley expires in November, and he said he plans to move to a new location. By that time, the city expects to have closed its investigation into the home, a probe prompted by Michaels' complaints.

The move by Victory Outreach can't come soon enough for Michaels, she said.

``We got off on the wrong foot from the beginning and they've never made it right,'' she said. ``Having them next door, . . . it makes us feel uncomfortable in our own home.''