Hospice Alleges Unfair Treatment by City, Neighbors

Shelley Chilton says opening a hospice in a cream-colored home on one of the city’s cul-de-sacs has been like fighting a quiet guerrilla war with neighbors and a red-tape battle with the city.

Chilton and her business partner, Mary Leste, received permission last summer to open a six-bed hospice for the terminally ill in a spacious home on Maureen Lane, just south of New Los Angeles Avenue.

But while preparing for the opening of the hospice, Chilton said, she and her staff members have been surprised by what she calls intimidating tactics used by residents to express their displeasure--as well as what she perceives as unfair treatment by the city.

City officials and residents, however, view the matter differently, raising concerns over traffic the facility will create and whether the company fully disclosed its plans when applying to the city for permission to move in.

But Chilton, who plans to bring the matter before the City Council tonight, maintains the company has been badly treated. “I’m so distraught. I’m really surprised at how we’ve been received and treated in the city.”

Chilton and Leste said they bought the house with plans to do more than care for terminally ill people. They also planned to move the Simi Valley headquarters of their company, Tender Loving Care Health Hospice Inc., to the home as well. That would bring to the site a handful of workers who dispatch nurses to care for patients in homes throughout Southern California.

The plan was to care for six patients and staff the home with four administrators, several nurses and an aide as well as an activity coordinator, cook and occasional consultants.

City officials and residents, however, say they did not expect an office or the larger staffing.

Residents said they began noticing in August--as work began to convert the home--many cars in the street. Sue Middleton, a resident on the block, asked the city to check into zoning violations.

“The neighborhood has no problem with having a hospice, only with them running their business out of there, which entails having 15 cars out there,” Middleton said.

According to Chilton, relations with neighbors declined to the point where some, she said, were harassing the hospice owners.

When Chilton left a bag of uncovered lawn clippings next to a trash can, for instance, she said, a nearby resident immediately reported this to the city as a code violation.

And Chilton accuses residents of staring at workers and sneaking into the backyard to snap photos in an apparent attempt to document building-code violations.

“It’s been pretty intense,” Chilton said. “My nurses and staff are feeling very harassed and intimidated. It’s been emotionally draining.”

After complaints from neighbors, the city sent the hospice owners a notice asking them to move the office portion of their business.

“The information they submitted was in our view not as complete or clear as it should have been,” said Wayne Loftus, the city’s planning manager. “We accepted the information, perhaps we should have asked a few more questions but we were trying to accept it in good faith.”

In the meantime, Chilton and Leste paved part of the backyard to create more parking space and moved their offices to another building in an industrial area of Moorpark.

The hospice owners say they have done everything the city has asked and more by paving an area in the back of the home for cars. But they object that city officials slapped them with a $4,300 fee for the new office.

The fee is required to apply for a conditional-use permit because the city said the business is in an area set aside only for industry.

“That’s business harassment,” said Chilton, who received the notice last week but said she has only until March 31 to comply. The hospice owners say they feel as if they are being driven out after having received permission to operate.

“Once we’re in, they just hammer us unmercifully,” Chilton said.

Loftus, however, said the company has not been treated differently than others that propose operations that do not fit the zoning ordinances.

The Maureen Lane hospice should be open in a couple weeks if it is approved by the state’s health department, Chilton said. In the meantime, the hospice owners are thinking of moving the office to another site rather than paying a fee.

“We’re getting tired of all this,” Chilton said.