College Hill residents voice concerns about recovery house

Concerned residents in the College Hill neighborhood heard Tuesday night that no more than eight alcoholics or addicts can live in a planned recovery house at Quentin and Second.

That restriction by the city appeared to do little to alleviate the concerns of many area residents in the audience.

One neighbor, Randy Rathbun, said, “The idea that this is not going to affect property values is a joke.” It’s the idea that eight men living down the street could be felons, Rathbun said. His comments drew applause.

No one among the audience of well over 100 people could fault a program that helps recovering addicts, Rathbun said.

Still, “We’re a different neighborhood, because we’re a classic old-time neighborhood. … There are so many places in this town where people don’t care if you live next to them,” he said to officials with the Oxford House program.

The program also received praise for its record of success.

The residents met at East Heights United Methodist Church to ask questions and raise concerns about plans to locate an Oxford House in their neighborhood. Starting around mid-May, the house on the southeast corner of Second and Quentin would be home to up to 14 recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, an Oxford House official had said Monday.

On Tuesday night, however, Oxford House officials said the house will have no more than eight men in order to meet a city ordinance.

City officials said federal law requires the city to make a “reasonable accommodation” for homes that serve disabled people, including recovering addicts.

Oxford House is a decades-old nationwide program that puts recovering alcoholics and addicts together in single-family neighborhood homes. The idea is that they can help support each other in their sobriety by living in a structured, supportive environment where they govern themselves and share the rent and responsibilities. Each house is independent and privately owned. Who will own the Quentin house was not clear Tuesday night. The sale has yet to close.

The 27 other Oxford Houses in Wichita have six to 14 residents, according to the group’s directory. It wasn’t clear Tuesday night why some houses exceed the limit of eight residents. Matthew Griffin, state association chairman for Oxford Houses of Kansas, said he thinks the house at 260 N. Quentin, with about 5,000 total square feet, will be the largest of the Oxford Houses.

Griffin said his understanding is that no more than two parolees – convicts coming out of prison and under supervision – are allowed to live in an Oxford House at the same time.

Oxford House official Joe Stuart said each home typically has a 2:30 a.m. curfew. A limited number of guests can stay over, he said. “But we wouldn’t have all eight individuals having a guest at the same time, either.”

The average length of stay is 15 months.

Another concern is how a house with that many residents and guests would affect parking on the century-old neighborhood’s narrow streets. Most Oxford House residents don’t have cars because they have lost their driver’s licenses, officials said.

One neighbor pointed out that many children live near the house and asked how the members of the house will act in their front yard.

Another neighbor noted that the Quentin house is on the path to neighborhood schools.

“We got kids, too, man,” Griffin said. He said the men living there would prove themselves.

“All of your guys’ concerns are legitimate,” he told the audience. “Give us a chance.”

Griffin said there hasn’t been any incident in which a child has been harmed by an Oxford House resident in Wichita that he knows of.

After the crowd cleared out, Griffin told a reporter: “We fight too hard to get into these neighborhoods,” so members know they have to win neighbors over by their actions.

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 10:30 PM with the headline "College Hill residents voice concerns about recovery house."