Associated Press
Last update: February 22, 2009 – 1:02 PM

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The city of St. Cloud has lost a major permit fight with the developers who want to build a home for chronic drinkers in the city.

Sherburne County Judge Thomas Hayes has ruled the city must issue a conditional use permit to River Crest.

Mayor Dave Kleis says the judge decided the city took longer than the maximum 60 days to deny the request last summer.

Kleis says he expects the City Council to abide by the judge’s order and give River Crest their permit during Monday night’s meeting.

River Crest plans to build a 40-bed facility southeast St. Cloud.

Kleis says it’s too late to do anything about this case, but he plans to lobby the Legislature to change the law and give cities more time to consider other future projects.

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Information from: WJON-AM, http://www.wjon.com

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman won’t sign a recently approved ordinance that regulates sober houses.

The ordinance, approved unanimously by the City Council this month, still takes effect. Coleman just doesn’t approve and knows that a veto wouldn’t stand a chance.

He said in a July 18 letter to council members that he agrees that “a clear definition of sober houses is necessary to ensure both that reasonable accommodations are made for those living with addiction and that the integrity of our neighborhoods is protected.”

He also agrees with parking requirements and a condition that operators must provide information to the city.

His problem is with a disputed provision that requires a 330-foot distance between sober houses — although the city could allow houses to be closer together on a case-by-case basis.

Opponents say that’s discriminatory toward sober-house residents, a federally protected class because chemically dependent people are considered disabled.

The Planning Commission had recommended the city adopt an ordinance excluding the distance mandate, and city attorneys noted that the requirement could be illegal.

“As always, I am concerned about putting the city at risk of lengthy and costly litigation,” Coleman wrote.

Regulating the homes for recovering addicts has been a complex issue, with the city trying to square the concerns of neighbors with the rights and safety of sober-house residents.

City Council President Kathy Lantry declined to comment.

CHRIS HAVENS

By CHRIS HAVENS, Star Tribune

Last update: July 10, 2008 – 9:18 AM

After months of study and public testimony, the St. Paul City Council adopted an ordinance Wednesday defining and regulating sober houses.

Council members approved it unanimously, ensuring it would take effect before a yearlong moratorium on new sober houses expires this fall.

A lawsuit is likely, opponents said after the vote.

Regulating the homes for recovering addicts has been a complex issue, with the city trying to square the concerns of neighbors with the rights and safety of sober-house residents.

“We’ve reached a reasonable balance,” said Council Member Russ Stark, who talked about the logic behind the ordinance before calling for the vote.

Sober houses are a valuable part of the community, he said. But, Stark added, neighbors raised valid concerns that the city had no clear definition or guidelines up to this point. It’s fair, he said, to place some regulations on the homes to maintain a neighborhood’s character.

A city ordinance allows no more than four unrelated people to live together in one dwelling. That would put most sober houses in violation of the law because many house five or more people. But because recovering addicts are a protected class and live as a family unit without services, operators say, they should be granted special accommodations to live in residential neighborhoods.

Existing sober houses will be grandfathered in.

A controversial provision requiring a 330-foot distance between sober houses remained in the ordinance. The city, however, could allow houses to be closer together on a case-by-case basis.

Opponents say that’s discriminatory toward sober-house residents, a federally protected class because chemically dependent people are considered disabled.

Sober people should be able to pick where they want to live, said John Curtiss, president of the Minnesota Association of Sober Homes and the Retreat recovery center.

“Our goal was to see where they [the council] went,” Curtiss said. “What seems to be reasonable is in violation of federal law.”

Several U.S. cities have lost lawsuits when trying to regulate sober houses.

Stark said the 330-foot distance requirement would allow for one new sober house per block, and the city has thousands of blocks.

The ordinance also says that:

• No more than 10 residents may live in a home in certain zoning districts.

• There should be at least 1.5 parking spaces per four residents.

• Operators must provide certain information to the city.

In other action Wednesday, the council unanimously approved the preliminary design plans — alignment, number of stations, right-of-way — for the Central Corridor light-rail line. The resolution noted 17 “outstanding issues,” such as dealing with the major loss of on-street parking along University Avenue, ensuring bicycle parking near stations and building additional stations.

Council members also approved an increase in taxi fares.

Chris Havens • 651-298-1542

By CHRIS HAVENS, Star Tribune

Last update: June 13, 2008 – 10:20 PM

A proposed St. Paul ordinance creating a zoning category and regulations for sober houses ran into vociferous opposition during a public hearing of the Planning Commission on Friday.

In a June 12 letter sent to the Planning Commission, David Lillehaug, an attorney representing the Minnesota Association of Sober Homes, said the ordinance, which goes to the City Council next week, was an invitation to a challenge in district court.

Regulating sober houses has become a controversial issue, with the city trying to balance the concerns of neighbors with the rights and safety of sober home residents.

The issue came to a head last fall when neighbors complained about the concentration of sober houses in some areas and the number of people living in them. The City Council in October approved a one-year moratorium on building permits and certification for the homes.

Any sober-house regulations would have to comply with the federal Fair Housing Act, because chemically dependent people are considered disabled and constitute a protected class.

Currently, the homes don’t fall under a specific housing category in St. Paul and aren’t subject to zoning regulations.

The proposed ordinance would establish these requirements:

• An operators’ questionnaire specifying the number of occupants and other building information

• A distance of 330 feet between sober houses, and 660 feet from homes with more than 7 people

• An additional 800 square feet in lot size for every person over six people at a residence

• 1.5 parking spaces for every four people

Lillehaug suggested that the matter be tabled and that neighbors and sober home operators be brought together to create a definition of what a sober house is and skip the regulations.

Terry Troy, of St. Paul, spoke as a concerned taxpayer and questioned whether the city should take on an issue that could cost a lot of money in court fees. Several cities around the country have been sued — and lost — trying to control sober houses.

The Planning Commission will make its recommendation to the council June 27.

The City Council’s first reading of the proposed ordinance will be Wednesday. A public hearing is scheduled for July 2.

Chris Havens • 651-298-1542

For many nonresidents who come to the area’s rehab centers, the Twin Cities become a place to call home. They live one day at a time, and those days often have turned into decades.

By Bill Ward, Star Tribune

Last update: October 14, 2007 – 12:14 PM

They come for treatment, and quite often stay because of the way they are treated. Many find stability within their tightly knit community and acceptance from the populace at large. Some feel they can never go home and thus stake their futures in Minnesota, but say they never feel quite at home here, either.

There are a million stories in the land of 10,000 rehab centers, but many of them play out close to the treatment facilities that bring addicts here in the first place.

“Recovery is thick here,” said William Cope Moyers, vice president of external affairs for Hazelden and one of these transplants. “There’s something about the Twin Cities that gives recovering people an added layer of support and protection to make the journey a bit easier and more rewarding.”

Other denizens of the local recovery nation cite the “centeredness” and acceptance they found from Minnesota residents and businesses in general.

But they are quick to add that without the tremendously supportive rehab community, particularly in St. Paul, they never would have stayed. Almost to a person, they believed they would leave within a few months to a year.

Part of that bond, they say, is an almost preternatural ability to recognize fellow travelers on the road to recovery. “We’re just like Mormons. You can’t see that secret underwear, but we know who else is wearing it,” said David Carr, who now works for the New York Times but as editor of the Twin Cities Reader in the 1990s hired several writers just out of rehab. “Most people in some kind of program are generally pretty reliable, and they tend to have seen a lot of life and that leads to fairly textured writing.

“I’m sorry that some of them came to Minnesota by way of the booby hatch, but I’m certainly glad they stayed. Besides, people are all gimped in some way, significantly.”

The migration of writers and other creative sorts such as artists and chefs has enriched the Twin Cities’ cultural life, Moyers noted. But it is the acceptance of recovering addicts from all walks of life that makes the area so amenable to them.

“People don’t look puzzled when we explain that we came from New York or Texas or Oregon to get treatment,” he said, “and you also don’t have to explain that gaping hole in the resumé, either, or why you’ve gone from being an executive or an airline pilot to making cappuccinos and lattés in a coffee house.”

Bill Ward • bill.ward@startribune.com

In their own words

A few words from four residents who originally came for rehab and decided to stay in the Twin Cities. 

Bonni Rodin, 46, came from Long Island 19 years ago and lives in St. Paul. She’s a single mom working on a master’s in counseling and psychological services at St. Mary’s.

“When I first came out, I thought I’d do the 30-day treatment and then go home. But then I realized that I was concerned about going back into the same environment. And also, I had hope here. It was far from perfect, but to stay here meant a lot of support, in good times and bad.

“I was just so afraid of life without drinking. I didn’t want to die, but I didn’t know how to live without drinking. It’s not just drinking, and it’s not just drugs; there’s a whole lifestyle around it. I needed to learn about the lifestyle of being sober.

“Anywhere I go here, I know people, I run into people in the program, and it’s just nice to see them. I can move anywhere in the country, but I stay because I made a foundation here.”

Chris Edrington, 42, came from Boulder, Colo., nine years ago and lives in St. Paul. He operates nine local Sober Living houses (“post halfway house, post everything”).

“Originally I had met people who had already done this, and it was clear that they had something that I wanted. Practically you could call it stability, and a job. But also they had a centeredness.

“I wouldn’t have gone back to Colorado. I would have been in trouble. But I figured I’d be here six months, tops. I get super restless after the first month pretty much anywhere.

“Eventually it became about other things, about having a life. I ran a lot for a long time. I never settled. But this turned out to be a great place. I like the people, a lot. I’m enmeshed in the sober community, which provides me with a job. Minneapolis is a great city, and St. Paul is really awesome.

“I just bought a house for myself after living in a one-bedroom apartment on Grand Avenue for 7½ years. I am a Minnesotan now.”

Tony Clark, who’s in his 60s, came from New York City four years ago and lives in St. Paul. He is a freelance writer and former senior editor for two large book publishers and writer-producer for public television.

“During my years as a New Yorker, I saw the city much like the young man in E.B. White’s essay: a place like no other for someone prepared to be lucky. However, coming out of Hazelden, I realized that for me to continue to be ‘lucky,’ some serious changes were needed.

“I thought I would be here for one year, tops. My first reaction to St. Paul was architectural: It looked like Brooklyn Heights back when people could actually afford to live there. Over time, though, I have come to feel comfortable about St. Paul’s being a big small town — which I think is a better fit for me than a small big city.

“The old quote is that you cannot go home again. But, have I come to my true home here? If my history since 2003 is to be trusted, more will be revealed every day.”

Emily Carter Roiphe, who’s in her early 40s, came from New York 17 years ago and lives in south Minneapolis. She is a novelist and freelance writer; she reviews books for the Star Tribune.

“[After treatment] it became obvious that if I returned to New York again, I would be homeless, whereas in Minnesota I would receive help with housing, sobriety and my health. I had run through my entire support network in New York, was terrified of living on the streets, and a new life in Minnesota was not only the one option available to me, it was a hopeful step. To me Minnesota was hope.

“I no longer think Minnesota is the only place I won’t die alone; but the life I have made here is a good one, complete with friends, spouse, pets and yard. I’ve met people here who have become my true and real friends, and whom I value immensely.

“On the other hand, I’m alienated by the passive-aggressive aspects of ‘Minnesota Nice’ (the bumper sticker for which should read ‘Well, we like it here’). I’ve often thought it would be easier if I actually came from an entirely different country, then no one would expect me to know the proper cultural responses and behavior.”