FOWLER – A youth behavioral treatment center recently found a new home in a Fowler neighborhood, but after a string of public disturbances by its residents, community members are calling for its removal.
During the July 21 city council meeting, residents participated in a workshop item to speak on their negative experiences with residents of Brighter Horizons Treatment Center, a short-term residential therapeutic program (STRTP) that began operations out of a Fowler residence earlier this month. After a reported 21 calls to the Fowler Police Department in just as many days, residents voiced their concerns and called upon the city to take some kind of action.
“Why should I have to be working from my own home to make sure (I feel) safe?” said Malina Veliz, a Fowler resident who lives near Brighter Horizons. “I come home for my safety and peace, but it doesn’t feel that way right now. It doesn’t feel like that at all.”
Visions of a ‘brighter horizon’
To open up the workshop, City Manager Michael Reid introduced Isaiah Brown, administrator at Brighter Horizons, to share the vision and intent of the program. Brown explained that Brighter Horizons accepts “very troubled” youth from the ages of 11-19, many of whom are coming from Child Protective Services or have been placed on probation.
The adolescents undergo a residential experience consisting of chores and school activities, while also making use of mental health services through an on-site social worker. According to Brown, the program is governed by the state Community Care Licensing Division and Department of Health Care Services, and thus aims to follow both departments’ standards.
Brown noted later in the workshop that Brighter Horizons operates a total of five sites, including one in Clovis.
Though well-intentioned in concept, he acknowledged multiple recent incidents of the program’s residents leaving the site and causing disturbances at surrounding homes, which have resulted in the arrests of at least two Brighter Horizons residents.
“I know that we have been taking up a lot of police resources, which was a bit of an error on my part for not doing my research before getting a house here,” said Brown in his comments.
Responding to a question from Mayor Pro Tem Amarjeet Gill, Brown said that one resident who was arrested was sent to jail and has been discharged from the program. According to Brown, the second arrestee was not sent to jail, but was also discharged from the program.
Later on in the workshop, Chief of Police Greg Gularte said that in the 21 days since Brighter Horizons opened, the department has responded to 21 calls for service ranging from missing person(s), out of control juveniles, drug charges and general disturbances.
In response to these incidents, Brown said that he intends to bring on more residential staff to form a “patrol team” that can better monitor their residents, and follow those who leave the site before having to call the police. He noted, however, that Better Horizons staff cannot physically prevent residents from walking out the door.
Walking a fine legal line
After the overview from Brown, Reid spoke about a community meeting that was held on July 13, where residents first voiced their concerns about Brighter Horizons, and restated some of the key takeaways from that meeting.
Reid first referenced California Health and Safety Code Section 11834 and its accompanying sections, which outline regulations for alcohol and drug recovery facilities. He explained to the council that the code describes residential treatment facilities as having six or fewer “clients,” with a focus on therapy and sober living.
Reid said that around the 1980s, municipalities began to pass zoning laws to try to prevent residential treatment centers from operating within them, which prompted intervention at the state level.
“The ramifications of that was that the state came back and they said, ‘We’re going to pass some laws that say there’s very little a city council can do and there’s very little a planning commission can do,’” said Reid to the council. “These are going to be treated as residential houses, just like your neighbors that aren’t running a business, with a few exceptions.”
One of these possible exceptions is the required distance between residential treatment centers, which could prevent a program from occupying an entire section of a street. Reid pointed to the city of Costa Mesa as an example, saying that they previously found success implementing a 650-foot minimum between residential treatment centers
Another way that the city could take action is through business licensing. Reid told the council that although residential treatment sites don’t need to inform cities or counties that they plan to open, since they’re treated merely as residences under the law, anyone operating a business out of a home still requires all of the proper licensing.
Reid said that the city has been working with Brighter Horizons to ensure they reach full safety compliance and obtain proper licensing, but in the meantime, the city has already issued an administrative citation.
City Attorney Roy Santos then gave details on what a potential ordinance could look like for Fowler, and pointed out some of the challenges that would come with that process.
Santos informed the council that while Costa Mesa’s ordinance initially looked like a promising template to follow, recent and ongoing litigation from a treatment center has caused Costa Mesa to enter a settlement agreement, and the city is now making amendments to its ordinance.
He said that because these changes have not yet been finalized, the Costa Mesa ordinance is not currently a reliable baseline to follow. Santos also noted that in June of this year, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) issued what he described as a cease and desist letter to Costa Mesa, saying its ordinance violates Anti-Discrimination Land Use (ALU) Law.
Santos closed out his comments by saying that while a city ordinance to regulate residential treatment centers is not impossible, it will certainly require thorough legal scrutiny.
“It’s not going to be easy, and I don’t even want to use the word ‘easy,’ but it’s going to take some time to put something together that can stand up to a legal challenge, because the likelihood that it will be challenged — given the current climate — is pretty high,” said Santos.
Council and community weigh in
After the presentations from Brown, Reid, Gularte and Santos, the discussion opened up to councilmember comments and questions. For Mejia, one of his biggest issues was the fact that Brighter Horizons opened its doors without any communication with city hall, even if it’s not required.
Mejia said that had representatives from the treatment center reached out to establish some kind of connection with city staff, it “would have made all the difference in the world,” and allowed the city to help find the best way to set the site up.
He later added that Brighter Horizons’ apparent inability to effectively monitor its residents “instills no confidence.”
Before opening the discussion up to public comments, Tehzin Alarakhia, Brighter Horizons’ head of service for the mental health department, expressed apologies to the community for the incidents that have occurred thus far.
“This definitely could have gone in a different direction, and it should have,” Alarakhia said. “We’re really not here to cause any trouble or stir up anything; we want to do what we can to work with Fowler.”
Alarakhia said that in response to all of the disturbances, residents are receiving two-to-three individual therapy sessions per week, and two group sessions. She added that while the site has capacity for six residents, it will remain at its current number of four for the time being.
Six community members spoke during the public comment, with even more listening in-person and online. Common themes amongst speakers included feelings of frustration, concerns about safety and reconsiderations of their investments in Fowler.
Marissa Garcia, who said she was threatened by a Brighter Horizons resident, expressed doubt that the organization’s added efforts will bring the changes she wants to see in the neighborhood.
“These issues have constantly reoccurred, whether it be here, in Fresno or Clovis,” said Garcia in her comments. “It continues, and it doesn’t get better.”
Larry Veliz, husband to Malina Valiz who spoke before him, said that recent events have brought added stress to day-to-day life.
“I’m constantly working so I can make my mortgage, but now I come home and I can’t even relax,” said Veliz. “My wife’s on the cameras, my neighbors are on the cameras, and my neighbors are considering selling or moving on with their projects at home.”
Before closing the public comment, Councilmember Karnig Kazarian expressed a deep sense of frustration, and even advocated for Brighter Horizons to seek a new location outside of Fowler.
“It’s just not working, and it’s not the right fit,” said Kazarian. “It’s not good for you, it’s not good for us, so let’s just part ways.”
Responding to those who may be considering selling their homes, Councilmember Daniel Parra encouraged them to hold out and send any documentation of incidents they have to Chief Gularte so that the proper actions can be taken.
After the hour-long workshop, the council closed out the item by directing staff to begin researching a framework for a residential treatment center ordinance.
Although that process will take time, as previously explained by Santos, city staff will continue to monitor Brighter Horizons, and make use of the city’s Multiple Response Nuisance Order if necessary. According to Gularte’s explanation earlier in the workshop, if the police department repeatedly responds to the same type of call within a 120-day period, Brighter Horizons will be required to pay cost recovery fines for those responses.
