As complaints mount, Lexington moves forward new regulations on sober living homes
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- Council advances ordinance to license sober homes, cap occupancy and require certification
- Ordinance mandates city licensing fees, zoning compliance permit and fines for noncompliance
- Lawyers warn ADA and Fair Housing bar density rules; ordinance requires rehousing plan
The Lexington council moved forward new regulations for sober living homes after some neighborhoods complained about the proliferation of recovery residences.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council’s Social Services and Public Safety Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward the new regulations to the full council. Under the proposed regulations, sober living homes would have to pay a city licensing fee of $200 for the first house and $100 for each additional house.
The new ordinance would also require sober living home operators to show the city they have complied with all state regulations, including its certification process. A final vote is expected next month.
Recovery home operators will have six months from the effective date of the ordinance to get state certification. The ordinance also limits the number of people in a home to eight, which follows other city ordinances.
Councilman Tyler Morton, who sponsored the ordinance, said it has been worked on since April. Morton and other council members developed a work group to help fine-tune the ordinance that regulates recovery residences, and protects those in those homes and neighborhoods.
Dozens of neighbors told the committee in August that some neighborhoods have been overrun by the private, largely for-profit, sober living homes typically used by people who are coming from inpatient treatment centers.
City records show there are more than 150 sober living homes operating in Fayette County. Many of those homes are concentrated on the city’s north and west sides. Neighbors said because there are no zoning restrictions on sober living, the homes can pop up with no notice.
During the August committee meeting, operators and residents of several sober living homes told the committee too many regulations could limit or close the number of sober living homes in Lexington. Many said those recovery residences helped them stay sober.
Federal law prohibits zoning restrictions for sober living
The city cannot legally restrict where sober living homes go or require special zoning, such as a conditional use permit, for recovery housing, lawyers for the city have said.
Under the American with Disabilities Act, people with substance use disorders are classified as having a disability. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.
That means the city can’t make land use rules that only apply to entities that serve people with substance use disorders, which would be discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, said Michael Cravens, a lawyer with the city, during the August council committee meeting.
The city also cannot dictate how many sober living homes can be in a neighborhood or a certain area, commonly called a density restriction, Cravens said.
“This is not a one-size fits all solution,” Cravens said. “We can not address every problem that arises from recovery residences. This is a good start.”
Cravens said the ordinance allows the city to have some say over recovery residences. Recovery residences have to comply with all other city ordinances, including building codes.
The ordinance was revised and tweaked since the Aug. 26 meeting and after hearing feedback from neighborhoods and operators, Morton said.
One of the changes includes requiring operators to file a rehousing plan in case the home shuts down unexpectedly. The ordinance also requires a 60-day notice prior to a home closing. Other cities, including Somerset, have seen operators shutter abruptly, leaving some of those former sober living home residents homeless.
Vice Mayor Dan Wu said the city could make tweaks to the recovery residence ordinance after it is passed. The city did something similar with short-term rentals and accessory dwelling units.
“We can always go back, tweak it and make it better,” Wu said.
The ordinance also does the following:
- Require operators to obtain a city recovery residence license, renewable annually, and provide information and documents in support of the license application for purposes of examining compliance.
- Require operators to get a zoning compliance permit, which would show they have met all state and city regulations. Neighbors would be notified of a filing for a zoning compliance permit.
Those operators who do not comply with city regulations could be fined. There is also an appeals process.
