Meeting on College Hill recovery house is Tuesday night

For weeks now, Celia Gorlich has been hearing concerns and questions about a plan to open a house for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts in the College Hill neighborhood.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, neighbors will have a chance to get some answers, said Gorlich, president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association.

The public meeting will be in the main sanctuary on the north side of East Heights United Methodist Church, 4407 E. Douglas, Gorlich said. The meeting is expected to include city officials, a community police officer, pastors and representatives of the Oxford House recovery program.

Gorlich said she learned three weeks ago that a house at 260 N. Quentin, on the southeast corner of Quentin and Second, will become an Oxford House.

Most of the concerns, she said, seem to be about how a recovery house will affect property values in the distinctive and historic neighborhood.

Other key worries: How a recovery house will affect parking on narrow, century-old streets, and a concern about how many people will live at the house on Quentin.

An Oxford House official, Matthew Griffin, said Monday that there would be up to 14 residents.

‘It’s a done deal’

As for the value of homes that become Oxford Houses, “typically they increase because of what we do to them” in improvements, Griffin said. As for houses around them, he said, “our research shows they stay the same or go up.”

The Quentin house, built in 1920, is appraised at $262,700 in county property appraisal records.

As for parking, he said, many residents don’t have cars after “hitting rock bottom,” until they succeed in their recovery.

“Just like anybody else, we don’t want to discomfort our neighbors; we don’t park on their side of the street,” he said.

A slab could be added to increase off-street parking if needed, Griffin said.

Gorlich said she has heard positive things about Oxford House from people in the psychiatry and substance-abuse fields.

As it is, she said, “It is my understanding that the Oxford House will be in our neighborhood regardless of our concerns. So I’m just trying to be fair.”

According to representatives of the Oxford House program, the idea is to provide a structured, supportive and safe residential living environment for addicts trying to stay sober.

The large corner house on Quentin will become the 28th Oxford House in Wichita, said Griffin, state association chairman for Oxford Houses of Kansas. The group hopes to open the house in mid-May, he said.

It’s only a matter of when the real estate transaction closes, he said.

“It’s a done deal. It’s going to happen.”

How houses function

In an interview, Griffin talked about how the houses operate:

Because of the stigma with drug and alcohol addiction, Oxford Houses work hard to be good neighbors. Residents have to stay sober. Anyone found using has to leave the house within an hour. Each house is privately owned by individual investors.

Although nonprofit Oxford House Inc. is the umbrella organization, each house is independent. Residents pay rent and share responsibilities and chores. The homes are well-maintained, he said. The average stay for a resident is six to 18 months.

The 27 other Oxford Houses in Wichita have six to 14 residents, according to the group’s directory. Griffin said he thinks the Quentin house, with about 5,000 total square feet, will be the largest of the Oxford Houses.

Residents have to be 18 or older. The houses don’t accept sex offenders or arsonists but do allow some violent offenders coming out of prison, he said.

However, everyone is screened, and there is zero tolerance for threats of violence, Griffin said.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Meeting on College Hill recovery house is Tuesday night."