There have been multiple meetings in Lakeside Park to address residents’ concerns over the opening of a third sober living house operated by Oxford House in the city, and though the issue was not on the agenda for Monday night’s council meeting, it was brought up again.
Mayor David Jansing was absent due to a recent medical procedure, and two other council members were also not present. That left Councilman Paul Markgraf to be elected to run the meeting.
Rob Grimes, one of many residents concerned about Oxford House and its new location on Farmcrest, asked council what had been done since the last meeting.
There are numerous Oxford House sober living homes across the region and the country. The nationwide organization describes itself as a self-sustaining operation where individuals reside in a home together, without counseling or addiction services on site. There could be six to fifteen residents in a home.
“Did you reach out to find other cities to do the study with us?,” asked Grimes. He asked about checking with the cities of Louisville and Newport, or an attorney in Chicago who once helped sober living houses but now guides communities in fighting them.
City Attorney Greg Voss said that he talked to two attorneys in Jefferson County and that they had no idea what he was talking about. He said Newport formulated legislation about the sober living houses because of a HUD complaint.
Markgraf said that the city checked with Ft. Mitchell to see if it wanted to join in with Lakeside Park in a study to find out what legislation can be formulated about the Oxford Houses.
Ft. Mitchell was not interested but Crestview Hills has indicated some interest, Markgraf said.
Grimes said that people are frustrated and upset about what they see as the lack of progress on this front. He told Voss that he has made some calls and the people call him back the next day, so he doesn’t quite buy the excuses and lack of information.
“So we were here a month ago, and we kind of gave you guys a heads-up on what we wanted to do,” Grimes said. “Now we’re going to lose another month before we can get anything done. It’s going to be December and nothing has been done. We don’t even have a (request for proposals) put together. It seems like we are kicking the can down the road. It was pretty easy to find the people.Â
“It is frustrating to hear.”
Grimes said that a group of residents sent council an email with the contact information and resume of an attorney in Chicago, and asked if Voss had at least contacted him.
“We’re not reaching out to anybody until council gives some direction,” Voss said. “I’m not going to just call some lawyer, which in his second email to you referenced KRS 194, which is what I told you about. I’m not going to taint and talk to lawyers all around the country until somebody reaches out and says this is what we’re going to do.”
Some residents want an RFP issued to attract a firm to conduct a study about sober living houses and legislation that could be enacted to limit them further. Those residents asked for this in September.
Markgraf said that one thing everyone could do is to contact their state senators and representatives to tell them to repeal KRS 194.
Grimes believes that the sober living homes, of which there are three in Lakeside Park, are hurting the housing market. He said that between January and August of this year, five homes in the neighborhood sold within an average of 5.2 days of being listed. Since September 1, he said, there are three homes on the market for an average of 56 days.
“This is having a big effect on value,” Grimes said.Â
Markgraf said that the next order of business is to see if another city would want to join in the RFP process to keep costs down. Then a draft RFP would be created.
-Patricia A. Scheyer, RCN contributor
Image shows Rob Grimes talking to Lakeside Park city council (via TBNK)
