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A recovery home operator asks for a second chance as Athens considers new zoning regulations
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The operator of two recovery homes in Athens told members of the Planning Commission she regrets getting off to a bad start with the city and would like a chance to set things right.
“Whatever it is you guys want me to do, I’m willing to do it,” said Joi Jones, executive director of Columbus-based Nex Level Behavioral Health Services. “If you want me to move out, I don’t know I have the capacity to fight. I want to do the best I can to continue my mission and to help these clients.”
The recovery homes first drew the city’s attention after multiple police calls to both homes. This led to the discovery that the homes, which had been operating for several months, were not registered with the state, which is required by law.
![Athens City Hall is seen in Athens, Ohio, on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. [Joseph Scheller | WOUB]](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/062221_CityHall_002-scaled-e1632322166288.jpg)
The intention with the proposed regulations is to treat recovery homes the same as other rental properties, David Riggs, the city’s director of code enforcement, told the commission. For example, recovery homes would have to get a rental permit and be subject to annual inspections.
As with other rentals, no more than three unrelated people could live in a recovery home under the proposed regulations. However, with recovery homes a couple are treated as one person, so a total of six people — three couples — could live together in a home.
The draft regulations also would prohibit recovery homes from being within 1,000 feet of one another.
This spacing requirement could present a legal issue. The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have said that people in recovery from alcohol and drug use are protected against discrimination under the federal Fair Housing Act.
In a nutshell, this means that in most cases, people in recovery cannot be treated differently than others because of their history of alcohol or drug use. The city does not impose similar spacing requirements on other rental units.
WOUB reached out to attorneys with expertise in fair housing laws for more information on the legal issues raised by recovery home regulations and how courts have ruled on these issues but did not get a response by the time this story was published.
“We absolutely love it here”
Jones of Nex Level told the commissioners her recovery homes are now registered with the state, and she is in the process of getting them accredited, which is also required under state law.
Jones acknowledged that one of her tenants who was the subject of a police call had a warrant out for his arrest. She said he did not disclose this to her. Nex Level does not do background checks.
“When people are coming to us they already come with a background,” Jones explained. “Some of them have thefts, some of them have all type of backgrounds. But when it comes to rehabilitation, we try not to hold them hostage to who they used to be. We’re trying to invest in who they’re becoming.”
Jones said she has temporarily moved the tenants out of the two homes. The move was hard on them, she said. Some had jobs they had to leave behind.
The tenants were not from the Athens area, Jones said, but this is where they want to be now.
“They’re struggling in Columbus because that’s not their home,” she said. “Their home was found here, and they want to go back home.”
“I’m asking you all to give us the opportunity to help change the lives of these people in the community in Athens, because I believe that we’re an asset and not a liability,” Jones said.
Jones brought some of the former Athens tenants with her to the commission meeting.
One told the commissioners that she and her fiance “were in a horrible program in Dayton that was all about fraud and money.”
It was shut down, leaving them homeless.
She said her experience with Nex Level has been much different. “We absolutely love it here,” she said. “We have these beautiful houses, furnished. We’re beyond grateful for the amazingness of these homes and not being homeless.”
“They have helped us change our life tremendously,” she said.
“Protecting our community for our community”
Athens resident Jack Stauffer, who has been critical of the recovery homes in comments to the City Council and Planning Commission, spoke after the tenants. He told the commissioners that most people in recovery are likely to fail. And when that happens, he said, they “will possibly remain in our town, be going to our food banks, be going to our churches, be going to these places that provide meals for the folks in our community.”
“I just don’t want Athens to be the dumping ground for Ohio,” he said.
Stauffer said if there are no legal limits on spacing recovery homes, he would like the new regulations to keep them as far apart as possible. He said the homes also should be kept a certain distance from bars, carryout stores, cannabis dispensaries and churches.
“I wish these folks and everybody that’s trying to recover, I wish them success,” Stauffer said. “That’s not the point. The point is protecting our community for our community.”
City Council member Alan Swank told the commissioners it is important to strike a balance between protecting the interests of Athens residents but also supporting people who are trying to turn their lives around.
“So that the people who live here permanently can feel that their investment in their property in their neighborhood is protected,” he said. “But equally important, or maybe even a step above that, those who have chosen the path to recovery can continue down that path and not be part of that 70 percent but be part of that 30 percent that makes it to the end of the line.”
This was in reference to Stauffer’s comment that 70 percent of people in recovery are not successful.
The Planning Commission is expected to take up the proposed regulations again at its next meeting, scheduled for March 4 at noon in the City Council chambers.