(Photo by Christina Estes - KJZZ)

Thomas Brown told subcommittee members he operates five sober living homes.

(Photo by Christina Estes - KJZZ)

A city subcommittee discusses regulations for group homes in Phoenix.

Operators of sober-living homes delivered a message to elected officials in Phoenix: don’t regulate us out of business. The city must balance neighborhood concerns with federal laws designed to ensure people with disabilities have equal opportunities to housing.

During a meeting Tuesday, members of the city’s downtown, aviation, economy and innovation subcommittee heard from several owners of sober-living homes. 

At his five homes, Thomas Brown said, “We take men that are broken, and we make them whole.”

Joseph Landin told committee members he spent years living in the canals of Phoenix with a needle in his arm, “a person you wouldn’t want in your home, in your city hall.”

He said he spent three and a half years in a sober-living home. Today, Landin has four homes throughout the Valley and said he’s never had a complaint.

“What I’ve done is I’ve always followed the guidelines that were set by AzRHA, the Arizona Recovery Housing Association,” he said. “We have fire evacuation plans in place, we have fire extinguishers in place, we have residency, amount of beds in place per bathroom. I always felt we were doing it right.”

Another man told committee members, “Try not to regulate us out of business.”

They’re worried about city leaders changing the rules and making it harder for them, but Councilman Daniel Valenzuela said it’s not about shutting down an industry — it’s about getting rid of the bad operators. 

“There are people taking advantage here, there are people negatively impacting our neighborhoods here,” he said. “So, if you’re in the business, and if you’re doing a good job and doing it right, you have nothing to worry about.” 

Several neighborhood groups have been vocal about what they see as clusters of poorly run homes.

“We do expect that there is some consistency in how they’re spaced throughout the community so that the whole intention of providing recovery and integration into the community happens in a way where neighborhoods don’t become institutionalized by overconcentration of group homes in any one given area because that defeats the whole purpose,” said Jeff Spellman with Take Action Phoenix, a group made up of various neighborhood leaders.

The subcommittee approved changes to make sure Phoenix is in compliance with federal fair housing laws while trying to keep homes at least one-quarter-mile apart. The full council must still approve.>This latest action is considered a first step as city staff plans to work with stakeholders over the summer to update regulations and enforcement while providing reasonable accommodation to people with disabilities, as required by law.