has started to become a pretty big problem. Being that
we generally care less what other people may employ
themselves with...or what service they may want to provide
other members of the society - a track record of minor and
some major abuses by certain Rehab facilities around our
City and County are making some supremely negative impacts.
It starts out like this: Some convicted scoflaw druggie
person has a rich family and needs them to go to Rehab.
For a mere $10,000 a month...their kid can go with the
likes of Lindsay and Britney..and spend some time in Home
Environment Rehab Centers, some with less than six other
people: to deal with their addictions and follow the desires
of courts...not to send them to jail..but to a place where
they might overcome their very bad self destructive habits.
Fast forward to 2008 and a very overcrowed legal and
prison system. Fast forward to using the Rehab Home
solution any possible time that it can be considered.....
even for convicted felons and for crimes that have nothing
to do with scoflaws or self abuse. Consider the mental
patients, two time losers of violent crimes and others that
certainly won't be able to afford $10,000 dollars a month.
Consider the heroin, crack cocaine and meth addicts that
have been relegated to homes somewhere near you.
The State of California always is wanting to support Private
Enterprise has again made it too easy to get a license to
create a Rehab home. Virtually anyone could buy a house
and start their own Rehab facility..either as a Franchise
of an existing Rehab Group....or even as their own..without
local "Use Permits" or oversight. The three people the
State has to check on these homes for cleanliness, health,
orderliness and safety regulations....can hardly deal with
those homes that may include overcrowding and public safety
offenses that may occur.
So, after six years of hard work by local activists in the
City of Newport Beach.....the current City Council had the
courage to pass a "Conditional Use Permit Requirement" for
Rehab Homes. Right now those same Rehab homes are
challenging the local law in the courts and may soon
reach State or Federal Supreme Court level. These people
are claiming "discrimination against minorities that
have health problems". They claim that these people are
seriously "Disabled"! So, we want to know - where are
their "Disabled State Approved Car Stickers"?
In the meantime, the City of Newport Beach is marching
on..and we are very proud of them! It has taken a true
tremendous amount of courage to face down this seemingly
never ending group of "health speculators"! These people
were able to get "sub-prime loans on quickly appreciating
beach property" and charge humongous rates for their
patients. The worst part was that these people get money
directly from the State of California....for caring for
these many convicted felons and drug people. These
facilities are now fighting back.....but without a
"Conditional Use Permit" which opens the process to Public
scrutiny......(Inspection by Police, Fire, Health and Code
Enforcement Officers) the abuses will never stop. Many
"child molesters" and violent criminals are situated within
these Rehab homes (we want to know how many!).....and the
impact to our children and others within these areas has to
be a major concern. Most of us have expericenced odd, weird
or dangerous situations since these homes have come to
Newport Beach. Public Safety should be "Job #1" and we thank
the current City Council and City Staff for their efforts.
The worst part of the Rehab problem in Newport Beach in
particular was the density. Several facilities (that look
like normal apartments or homes from the outside!) could
be found within two or three house of each other. Crowds
of these patients could be found gathering outside, parking
abuses, noise - not to mention the health and safety
concerns of the bi-gender patients living in these locations.
Hail to Newport Beach...and hopefully to all the other cities
in Orange County that will have the will to Regulate Public
Safety against the forces of these greedy health speculators!
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