Planning commission upholds denial of Ohio House reasonable accommodation; applicants say residents will be displaced

The Costa Mesa Planning Commission on Sept. 22 voted to uphold the director’s denial of a reasonable accommodation request from Ohio House, a sober-living operator at 115 East Wilson Street, Units A–E. The commission approved staff’s recommendation to deny the accommodation by a 5–1 vote, with Commissioner Andrade voting no.

What the applicants asked for: Ohio House appealed the director’s denial of a request for relief from the city’s zoning requirements to operate five detached 2-story residences as a coordinated sober-living facility. The applicants sought either (a) a determination that the five units constitute a single “single housekeeping unit” under the zoning definition (which would remove the requirement for a conditional use permit), or (b) a reduction of the city’s 650-foot separation requirement by 100 feet so the site would not conflict with an existing approved sober-living facility at 165 East Wilson Street.

Staff’s recommendation and legal history: Senior staff summarized a long administrative and legal history in which earlier reasonable-accommodation requests and a conditional-use permit were denied; the city reported that a…