Costa Mesa sober-living group fined

City code enforcement has fined a Costa Mesa sober-living business for allegedly hosting unpermitted group-counseling sessions in a Westside office building.

The $900 citation was mailed Tuesday to a subsidiary of Solid Landings Behavioral Healthafter the company lost its appeal last month for permission to host the meetings at 657 W. 19th St., a 6,710-square-foot building it rents.

John Morehart, who owns the building, will receive a copy of the fine.

The citation also notes the presence of two illegally installed access gates as well as unpermitted electrical circuits, mechanical equipment and a key box at the building. One of the gates is locked and needs Fire Department approval so crews can access the building in an emergency, according to the citation.

All must be removed within seven days, said Chief of Code Enforcement Fidel Gamboa.

Solid Landings was first notified last fall that it was operating without a city business license. At some point later, the company was informed that it needed permission to continue having its group-counseling sessions on the property.

In April, a zoning administrator granted Solid Landings permission to do that. That approval, however, was appealed to the Planning Commission, which then overturned the decision in June.

Solid Landings appealed up to the City Council, which on July 21 again denied the use. The council ruled that 657 W. 19th lacked enough parking to host the group meetings.

Solid Landings argued otherwise, primarily on the basis that its clients arrive in group vans, so fewer parking spots would be sufficient.

The council’s decision did not boot Solid Landings out of the building. The company remains permitted to utilize it as an administrative office and for other uses.

Gamboa said City Hall is assuming that Solid Landings has continued to conduct group sessions since the council’s decision. The company has 30 days to cease those operations. After that point, code enforcement will reinspect the situation.

“This gives them the opportunity to disassemble whatever use they were doing there,” Gamboa said.

Solid Landings and Morehart — both of whom were unavailable for comment Wednesday — can appeal the citation.

Solid Landings and its subsidiaries operate about 30 group and sober-living homes throughout Costa Mesa, according to recent City Hall estimates. The firm was recently unsuccessful in an unrelated lawsuit against the city that contested a regulatory ordinance.