Lake-Geauga Recovery Ctrs., Inc. v. Munson Twp.
| Decision Date | 19 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 1:20-cv-02405 |
| Parties | LAKE-GEAUGA RECOVERY CENTERS, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. MUNSON TOWNSHIP, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiffs Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers, Inc. and Fair Housing Resources Center, Inc. filed suit against Munson Township, the members of the Township's Board of Zoning Appeals, and its zoning inspector alleging that Defendants apply local zoning laws to discriminate in violation of federal and State laws against the clientele of the former, who as relevant here are women in recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction. For their part, Defendants maintain they are merely enforcing facially neutral zoning laws in a non-discriminatory fashion. In addition to money damages, Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction under Rule 65(a) so that they may operate a sober-living residence in Munson Township.
Following briefing, the Court held a hearing on Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction on March 9 and 10, 2021. For the reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS IN PART Plaintiffs' motion and makes the following findings and orders pursuant to Rule 65(a) and Rule 65(d)(1) and (2).
Plaintiff Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers, Inc. provides a full range of services to people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. (ECF No. 1, ¶ 2, PageID #2; id., ¶ 22, PageID #6; see also Ex. 27.) Lake-Geauga's services include early intervention, education, outpatient treatment, group counseling, and residential treatment. (Ex. 27.) According to Melanie Blasko, president and chief executive officer of Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers, the organization's mission is to provide "lifelong recovery from addiction through education, prevention and treatment, regardless of ability to pay." (ECF No. 30, PageID #831.)
In September 2019, Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers purchased a four-bedroom house, known as Twelve Meadows, in Munson Township in Geauga County, Ohio. (ECF No. 1., ¶ 5, PageID #3.) Lake-Geauga bought this particular house because of the open floor plan, large bedrooms, and its one-and-a-half-acre parcel, which Lake-Geauga finds conducive to recovery as those with addiction transition from treatment programs to daily life. (ECF No. 30, PageID #843-44, 894.) The organization intends to use the house to provide a sober-living facility for five women who are residents of Lake or Geauga counties upon their completion of a thirty-day primary treatment program. (ECF No. 1., ¶ 5, PageID #3; see also id., ¶¶ 26 & 27, PageID #7; id., ¶ 33, PageID #9.) In addition, a house manager lives at the residence. (Id., ¶ 5, PageID #3.) The house manager is also a person in recovery. (ECF No. 30, PageID #802.)
At the preliminary injunction hearing, the evidence showed that recovery housing is "effective in producing positive outcomes for persons with substance usedisorders." (ECF No. 30, PageID #802.) Indeed, Defendants do not dispute that Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers does important work and does it well. (ECF No. 30, PageID #880, 912.) Beyond that, the evidence provided an overview of the context in which organizations provide recovery and addiction services. In particular, the National Alliance of Recovery Residences, a national organization that seeks to increase access to recovery housing for people with substance use disorders, recognizes four levels of support for recovery housing. (Id., PageID #776.) Residents in a Level II recovery home, like Twelve Meadows, focus on learning to live in long-term recovery, and recovery housing is a "critical component" of the continuum of care persons recovering from addiction receive, which can increase their odds of sustaining recovery over the long term. (Id., PageID #779.)
Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers receives funding from, among other sources, Medicaid and the Geauga Board of Mental Health & Recovery Services, which applied for a grant from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for Twelve Meadows. (ECF No. 1, ¶ 28, PageID #8; id., ¶ 40, PageID #11.) The grant will reimburse Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers in the amount of $334,561 for expenses and operating costs related to Twelve Meadows. (ECF No. 16, PageID #183.) Receipt of the funds may be tied to or contingent to some degree on Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers' compliance with grant funding conditions, including providing housing for five recovering adult women at Twelve Meadows. (Id.) However, the evidence at the hearing was not entirely clear on this point. (See ECF No. 31, PageID #1067-68.) During the preliminary injunction hearing, Ms. Blaskotestified that Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers purchased the property for Twelve Meadows out of the organization's reserve funds and that grants may replenish those funds. (ECF No. 30, PageID #845, 883.)
Danielle Gray, Executive Director of Ohio Recovery Housing, the Ohio affiliate for the National Alliance of Recovery Residences, testified that Twelve Meadows received certification as a Level II recovery house through 2022 and that she participated in that certification effort. (Id., PageID #774, 788.) Although certified, Twelve Meadows does not have a license from the State of Ohio to operate as a residential facility for persons with disabilities. (ECF No. 19-3; PageID #321.)
Twelve Meadows sits within an area of Munson Township zoned R-1, for use as single-family homes. (ECF No. 1, ¶ 44, PageID #12.) Under Section 401 of the Munson Township Zoning Resolution, that classification aims for a density of one residential lot per two-and-a-half acres. (ECF No. 19-1, PageID #251.) As relevant here, an R-1 classification permits (a) one single-family dwelling, (b) a licensed residential facility as defined in Section 5123.19 of the Ohio Revised Code (), which allows three to sixteen adults, and (c) a type-B family day care and home as defined elsewhere in the zoning resolution. (Id.)
Additionally, Munson Township defines a family for zoning purposes as two adults "though not related by blood, adoption, guardianship or marriage." (Id., ¶ 46, PageID #12.) The applicable zoning law defines a family as:
one (1) or more persons related by blood, adoption, guardianship or marriage, living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit,exclusive of live-in hired employees. A number of adult persons not exceeding two (2) living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit though not related by blood, adoption, guardianship or marriage shall also be deemed to constitute a family, exclusive of live-in hired employees. A family shall not include any society, club, fraternity, sorority, association, lodge, federation, coterie, or a like organization; any group of individuals whose association is temporary or seasonal in nature; and any group of individuals who are in a group living arrangement as a result of criminal offenses.
(ECF 19-1, PageID #250.) Under this definition of family, Twelve Meadows may not have more than two unrelated adults living there, plus the live-in house manager. (ECF No. 31, PageID #1026-27.) This limitation forms the crux of the dispute between the parties.
In October 2019, after purchasing Twelve Meadows, Ms. Blasko received a letter from James Herringshaw, the zoning inspector for Munson Township, advising that the organization needed to apply for a zoning certificate. (ECF No. 1., ¶ 58, PageID #15; Ex. 9.)
On November 1, 2019, Ms. Blasko called Mr. Herringshaw regarding the letter. (ECF No. 19-3, PageID #320.) After a meeting and some additional communication back and forth (see, e.g., ECF No. 30, PageID #946; Ex. 10), Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers applied on December 23, 2019 for a zoning certificate for Twelve Meadows (ECF No. 1., ¶ 62, PageID #16; Ex. 11). Mr. Herringshaw denied the application the same day (though he dated it later). (Id., ¶ 63, PageID #16; Ex. 12; ECF No. 30, PageID #996.) On Mr. Herringshaw's advice, Ms. Blasko appealed the denial by seeking a variance, also on December 23, 2019. She did so on a form titled both notice of appeal and variance request, which Mr. Herringshaw handed to Ms. Blasko. (Ex. 13; ECF No. 30, PageID #868.)
As Munson Township and Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers sparred over the zoning for Twelve Meadows, Plaintiff Fair Housing Resource Center, Inc. got involved in the dispute. (Id., ¶ 83, PageID #21.) Fair Housing Resource Center engages in education and advocacy to promote fair housing in Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula counties. (Id., ¶ 4, PageID #3; ECF No. 30, PageID #738-39, 755.) The organization opened an investigation. (Id., ¶ 85, PageID #21.) It also provided assistance and resources to Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers to assist in addressing issues that might arise in a community forum. (Id., ¶ 87; ECF No. 30, PageID #746-47.)
Following a public hearing on the request for a zoning variance for Twelve Meadows in July 2020, the Munson Township Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously to deny Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers a variance to operate Twelve Meadows. (Id., ¶ 99, PageID #25.) Fair Housing Resource Center participated in the hearing. (Id., ¶ 95, PageID #23; ECF No. 30, PageID #747.)
At the request of the parties (ECF No. 31, PageID #1015), the Court reviewed a video of the hearing, which lasted more than four hours. During the hearing, several residents of Munson Township expressed opposition to Twelve Meadows operating in their community. They raised concerns regarding sewer runoff, traffic, and property values, as well as safety based on stereotypes of people recovering fromdrug or alcohol addiction. After the Board heard from residents, they took a brief recess to confer...
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