Sober-living home slated for closure is eyed by another rehab operator

A Westside Costa Mesa sober-living home scheduled to close this week as part of a settlement agreement is being vetted by another company looking to continue drug and alcohol rehabilitation services there, according to city officials.

City spokesman Tony Dodero said Clean Path Recovery, based in Costa Mesa, is seeking a state license to operate a rehab facility at 973 Arbor St. and house up to six tenants there.

The home is one of 15 that Solid Landings Behavioral Health, another Costa Mesa-based sober-living operator, agreed to close by this week as part of an agreement reached last month with the city.

Solid Landings had been leasing the four-bedroom, 3.5-bath home near Canyon Park.

According to the settlement agreement, Solid Landings is prohibited from having ties to any sober-living operators that start providing rehab services at properties Solid Landings is vacating.

Dodero said city code enforcement inspects and monitors sober-living homes on a weekly basis and is investigating all “current and future transactions” on the 33 homes Solid Landings has agreed to close within three years.

Dodero noted that City Hall has no control over who private property owners lease or sell to. But, he added, owners and operators of Solid Landings’ facilities have been advised about city regulations that affect their industry.

Since 2009, 973 Arbor has been owned by Remy OC LLC, a real estate investment trust based at a Newport Coast home, according to property records.

A call to Remy OC’s owner, David Kalili, was not returned Tuesday afternoon.

Kalili’s trust also owns 691 W. Wilson St., which, according to city officials, was a sober-living home operated by Clean Path Recovery. The company has ceased operations there. Remy OC bought the home in 2009, according to property records.

A request for comment from Clean Path was not returned Tuesday afternoon.

Dodero said 973 Arbor has been cited by fire code officers for having an illegal office in the garage and a storage shed in the backyard that violated zoning setback rules. The city gave 30 days for the violations to be corrected and has not issued a fine.

“We continue to invest considerable resources in legal, law enforcement and code enforcement efforts to ensure a balance between our residents who deserve neighborhood peace and tranquillity and those who seek facilities to battle their addiction problems,” Dodero said.

Of the 15 homes Solid Landings has agreed to close as of this week, five have been sold and three are up for sale, according to city records. One of the five sold is being occupied by its new owner, Dodero said.

Costa Mesa contains an estimated 172 sober-living facilities, according to a deputy city attorney who spoke last week at a regional forum on the topic.

Sober-living homes have long been a source of frustration for Costa Mesa residents who contend they disrupt their neighborhoods by bringing in a transient population and creating secondhand smoke, noise and parking problems.

Costa Mesa’s efforts to regulate the homes have spurred lawsuits, with operators contending the city has violated federal and state law by discriminating against a class of protected people. Recovering addicts, by law, are considered disabled.