Politics & Government

Newport Beach Council Terminates Rehab Business' Agreement to Operate

Morningside Recovery still has some options for staying in Newport, city attorney says.

Newport Beach has ended its game of "Whac-A-Mole," as Councilman Steve Rosansky described it, with a substance abuse rehab business that operates in the city.

The City Council on Tuesday took the first step to terminate an agreement that allows Morningside Recovery LLC to run several residential facilities in Newport. The move came about a month after the council put Morningside on notice for what City Attorney David Hunt called an "ongoing pattern of violations” of the agreement.

"Unfortunately, it just hasn't worked out," Councilwoman Nancy Gardner said said before the council voted.

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to send Morningside written notice detailing how, according to city staff, it has failed to comply with the agreement, which includes conditions pertaining to occupancy levels, deliveries, noise and secondhand smoke. Between September and May, the city took 49 enforcement actions against Morningside facilities, a staff report says. The city gave Morningside 30 days to fix the problems.

Violations continued during that time. Between June 15 and July 17, the city issued 20 administrative citations and 11 notices of violation and six warnings to Morningside, Janet Brown, an associate planner with the city, told the council Tuesday. Also, according to the latest staff report, Morningside has not paid $7,271 in fines from citations.

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For comparison, six other operators run residential facilities in 24 locations around the city, the staff report said. during the nine months that Morningside has operated in Newport, those other operators combined have received 28 complaints, which have been generally addressed quickly, the report said. By contrast, the city has taken 82 enforcement actions against Morningside during that same period, the report said.

Mornigside's latest violations, according to city staff, include deliveries being made outside of specified hours, not having sufficient staff on hand, illegal parking, and a client using profanity in a Lido Marina Village retail shop, among others, according to the report.

"I don't really see a break in trend in terms of violations associated with this," Mayor Mike Henn said. "We have a trend of asking for forgiveness instead of asking for permission."

Morningside attorney Mary Helen Beatificato, calling the city's evidence against Morningside "hearsay," addressed the most recent violations before the council voted Tuesday. The bulk of them, she argued, weren't violations of her client's agreement with the city at all.

Drug testers coming to a Morningside house, for instance, does not add up to a business delivery, Beatificato said. Therefore, the the hours for deliveries stipulated in the agreement do not apply. As for a Morningside client using profanity in a local shop, the agreement requires Morningside to have adequate staff to control clients while in treatment facilities, Beatificato said. The agreement does not apply to clients' behavior while away from the facility, she said.

Rosansky said Morningside wasn't living up to the spirit of the agreement, comparing the city's interactions with Morningside to a game of Whac-A-Mole.

"I don't think our city and our residents are benefiting from the agreement," he said. We continue to argue about an agreement we had with you folks. We're tired of arguing."

Rosansky predicted that the move would prompt Morningside to sue the city. Patch has a call in to Beatificato for comment.

Before the agreement between Newport and Morningside is terminated, the council has to vote one more time. That is scheduled for Aug. 9. If the council votes again to revoke the agreement at that time, Morningside will have 30 days to either close down, get a state license or pursue "reasonable accommodation" under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Hunt said.


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