City Officials Have Hands Tied In Effort To Stem Tide Of 'Sober' Homes In Pompano Beach Neighborhood, Leaving Local Residents Rankled

In Pompano Beach, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• A new type of housing arrangement known as 'sober homes' are cropping up all over the Pompano Highlands neighborhood, according to members of the Pompano Highlands Civic Improvement Association. And there is little that can be done about it.

• "It's a phenomenon happening all over the country. The problem is they're hard to [regulate] because they are not halfway houses," said Sandra King, a spokeswoman for the city of Pompano Beach.

• Halfway homes are typically regulated by the state and are allowed in residential areas as long as they are inspected and operating within state laws, said Dennis Beach, the city manager. But the homes in the Highlands appear to be mostly what is known as 'sober homes,' where people coming out of halfway houses or rehabs live together to stay out of trouble. The only thing the homeowner needs to get from the city is a business tax receipt in order to operate legally, said King.

***

• The Highlands has been targeted mostly because rents are cheap due to a foreclosure crisis that has hit the neighborhood particularly hard, said Walter Syrek, secretary of the civic improvement association. "I can say that my experience over the past four years of working with the association, I'm amazed how often it gets mentioned," Syrek said. "Everyone I've talked to seems to know where one is."

• A simple Google search of "Pompano Beach" and "sober house" will yield dozens of advertisements for such places. Often, sober houses will hire a manager to run the place and can even receive government subsidies for renting out the rooms, said King.

• But the existence of these homes has caused a nuisance for some in the neighborhood. Syrek said he knows of one sober house on Northeast 43rd Court and 13th Avenue where on weeknights groups set up lawn chairs on the front lawn and hold AA meetings.

For more, see 'Sober homes' causing concern in Highlands neighborhood.