Costa Mesa council to hear appeal from sober-homes operator

The Costa Mesa City Council plans to hear a sober-living operator’s appeal Tuesday to host group counseling at a Westside office building that lacks requisite parking.

Solid Landings Behavioral Health is seeking special permission to have the sessions at 657 W. 19th St. — a 6,710-square-foot building in a commercial zone that’s across the street from California Department of Motor Vehicles office — despite providing 24 parking spaces, 43 less than City Hall requires.

Solid Landings argues that 24 spaces will be enough because clients arrive by vans, not in their own cars. The company says it needs 20 spaces, at most, three for vans and 17 for staff.

The operator wants to use the building for individual and group counseling, educational sessions, administrative offices and state-approved outpatient treatment programs, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. Weekend operations would be on an as-needed basis, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As many as 30 clients would be on site at any one time.

Solid Landings’ request was approved by a city zoning administrator in April, though an appeal by Costa Mesa resident Ann Parker brought the matter to the Planning Commission on June 8.

Parker expressed concerns about the effects of sober-living homes on neighborhoods.

The commissioners unanimously agreed to overturn the administrator’s approval. Testimony during the meeting included accusations that Solid Landings’ vehicles were being parked in the adjacent neighborhoods and at the senior center, instead of in the office lot, and that its vans were blocking traffic.

Days after the decision, Solid Landings filed an appeal, contending that the commission’s findings “cannot be justified in fact or in law” and that the panel based its case based on “unsubstantiated testimony and evidence.”

Solid Landings argued that the decision violates the rights of its clients, many of whom are in recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction and are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

City officials have noted that Solid Landings began operating at 657 W. 19th “without an approved business license or minor conditional-use permit for the use. Additionally, construction activity occurred at the site without the required building and fire safety permits and inspections.”

The building is owned by John Morehart, who also owns properties along Superior Avenue, where he sought to make an unofficial “Mesa Arts” district and construct an archway over a small private street. He later abandoned the idea and said he was frustrated with City Hall’s restrictions and application process.

Solid Landings’ appeal comes months after a separate lawsuit it filed against the city was dismissed by a federal judge.

Solid Landings argued that a city ordinance seeking to regulate group and sober-living homes in single-family neighborhoods was discriminatory. The firm and its subsidiaries operate as many as 30 such homes in Costa Mesa, according to City Hall estimates.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 5:45 p.m. in the council chambers, 77 Fair Drive.