Planning Commission Says No to Social Rehab Home

The Planning Commission struck down a proposal for a residential group home for people with psychiatric conditions at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 27, which drew approximately 100 residents and was at times heated. Unanimously, the Planning Commission voted to move the conditional use permit proposal to a Feb. 10 meeting and directed staff to prepare an official resolution denying the proposal on grounds including concerns of health and safety for neighborhood residents and possibly unmet zoning requirements. The resolution denying the request will be formally adopted by the Planning Commission at this meeting. The proposal by Helping Hearts California, Inc. included a co-ed 10-bed facility in a five-bedroom existing single-family home at 1288 Visconti Drive in a residential neighborhood. The facility would have provided supervised long-term treatment for at least six, but up to 10, adults ages 18 and up living with behavior disorders, according to a Planning Commission staff report. Reports show the home would also have been required to be licensed by the state Community Care Division as a social rehabilitation facility. Marc Wims, owner of Wims Enterprises which includes Helping Hearts California, shared that the home would help integrate people with long-term behavioral disorders into society by providing 24-hour behavioral health treatment, counseling and health monitoring. Licensed caretakers would assist with medication administration and the facility would not be a "lockdown" facility, according to Wims. Clients living in the home could live with disorders ranging from schizophrenia, to bi-polar disorder, to depression, Wims explained. "Our clients are a protected class. They are brothers, sisters, daughters, wives and husbands. They are citizens like we are citizens," Wims said. "These clients have been deemed ready to step down into this level of care. They have the right to integrate into society." Several residents shared concerns of their safety in the neighborhood; most cited large numbers of children in the area. "There are so many kids in the neighborhood. They play together. There's basketball courts all around," said MaryAnn Lopez, a resident of Visconti Drive who began a petition - garnering at least 150 votes by Tuesday evening - to fight the proposed group home. Her fiancé, Martin Gutierrez, addressed the Commission, "The neighborhood is what sold us. We moved in about two years ago and we want to start a family there. I'm not opposed to people bettering their life but not at the jeopardy of us losing our quality of life." Others said they were concerned about employees only being able to oversee the administration of medication to the clients. Many said they feared violence may occur if a client were to decide not to take their medication and chose to exit the group home. Wims said, "I think you're operating on a stigma, a stereotype that all people with mental health disabilities are violent. The clients have been determined to be appropriate for this level of care. If they do not take their medications then they are non-compliant with the facility's regulations. They can choose to be compliant or we get with the proper authorities to get them into the appropriate place." As per law, residents within a 300-square-foot radius of the proposed group home are required to receive notice of the proposal. Colton Associate Planner Steve Gonzales said that on Jan. 15, 56 notices were sent to residents in this radius and the city received three written protests - two by letter and one via email - against the project. Gonzales's claim was met by mutters of disagreement from the crowd. When Planning Commission Chair Richard Prieto asked who in the audience did not receive a notice, approximately 80 percent of residents raised their hands. "My next-door-neighbor didn't know about the home until another lady told her about it,” said Lopez. Others claimed they didn't know about the proposal until they read about it in a local newspaper on Monday, Jan. 26. Wims said, "We are experienced. We know what we're doing, and we're committed to being a good neighbor." Visconti Drive resident Sarah Leyva said when she first heard the proposal she had no strong feelings either way about the group home, but after speaking with Wims privately and attending the meeting Tuesday night, her mind changed. "The more I listen, the more I realize this is a business. This is not a neighbor. This is a business that's here to make money and we don't need that in our neighborhood," Leyva said. Just before 10 p.m. that night the Planning Commission agreed with the residents, voting not to approve the permit request.