CYPRESS : Ordinance Targets Care Facilities

The City Council has passed an ordinance allowing community care facilities to operate in residential neighborhoods, subject to council review.

The action was taken in response to a request by College Health Enterprises of Cerritos. Don Gilligan of College Health asked the council in November for permission to run an adolescent care facility at 8542 Sumner Place. Such facilities were not allowed in residential areas, said Planning Director Chris Eynon.

An adult care facility had operated previously at the site, when the area was part of an unincorporated portion of Orange County.

The new ordinance gives the City Council the authority to review each application and set conditions before a facility is approved. Gilligan now may apply for a conditional use permit and go through the review process.

Plans call for the facility to house as many as 26 adolescents with behavioral or learning problems, Gilligan said. Many suffer from depression or abuse.

“A lot of the kids just aren’t ready to go home,” he said. The residents, up to 18 years of age, will have around-the-clock care and supervision.

However, he said, it is not considered a “lock down unit,” meaning residents will be able to leave the premises and will attend schools in the area, he said.