Oxford House-C v. City of St. Louis

• Decision Date: 28 January 1994
• Docket Number: No. 91-2402-C(7) (CDP).,91-2402-C(7) (CDP).
• Citation: 843 F. Supp. 1556
• Parties: OXFORD HOUSE-C, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri

843 F. Supp. 1556

OXFORD HOUSE-C, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS, Defendant.

No. 91-2402-C(7) (CDP).

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, E.D.

January 28, 1994.

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Susan M. Alverson, Dennis J. Capriglione, Ann B. Lever, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Herbert A. Eastman, St. Louis University Law School, Mary Stewart Tansey, Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Louis, MO, Joseph D. Rich, Kenneth H. Zimmerman, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Housing & Civ. Enforcement Section, Washington, DC, for plaintiffs.

Julian L. Bush, Assoc. City Counsel, City of St. Louis, Law Dept., Michael A. Garvin, James L. Matchefts, Patrick J. Connaghan, Office of City Counselor, St. Louis, MO, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PERRY, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiffs in this case seek an injunction and declaratory judgment prohibiting the City of St. Louis from enforcing its zoning and building ordinances in a manner that would prohibit two Oxford Houses, which have ten and twelve residents, from operating within the City's single-family residence zoning districts. Plaintiffs, who represent recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, allege that the City's enforcement of its ordinances discriminates against them on the basis of their handicap in violation of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. ? 3601 et seq., as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, and other federal laws. The matter is before the Court following a non-jury trial. Based upon the testimony, exhibits, stipulations presented at trial, and pre- and post-trial briefs, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Findings of Fact

I. The Parties

1. Plaintiffs Oxford House-C ("OH-C") and Oxford House-W ("OH-W") are unincorporated associations consisting of each house's current residents, located in the City of St. Louis, Missouri. Their purpose is to provide a home for recovering (sober) alcoholics and drug addicts.

2. Plaintiff Oxford House, Inc., is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Silver Springs, Maryland. Oxford House, Inc. advocates for and assists in providing housing for recovering alcoholics and addicts, and is a membership organization whose members are the residents of individual Oxford Houses across the country, including OH-C and OH-W. Oxford House, Inc., has granted charters to plaintiffs OH-C and OH-W and has expended substantial effort seeking to protect their right to supportive housing in the community. Oxford House, Inc., also has a contract with the State of Missouri for the collection of loan repayments from and provision of other assistance to individual Oxford Houses in Missouri.

3. Plaintiff-Intervenor the Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse is a state agency created under the Missouri Constitution, Article IV, Section 37(a) and Chapters 630 and 631, R.S.Mo.1986, as amended. The Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (hereinafter, "the Missouri Department") receives $18-22 million per year in federal alcohol and drug abuse and mental health services block grant funds under 42 U.S.C. ? 300x.

4. Defendant the City of St. Louis is a municipal corporation existing and operating under a Charter recognized by Article VI, ? 31 of the Constitution of Missouri. The City of St. Louis receives federal funds, including approximately $22.6 million for fiscal year 1991, $23.3 million for 1992, and $26 million for 1993, under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The City's Department of Public Safety, which includes the Zoning Administration and the Division of Building and Inspection, receives funding from the CDBG grant.

II. The Oxford House History

5. In 1975, Paul Molloy and several other recovering alcoholics and drug addicts formed the first Oxford House. Molloy testified that he and the others had been residing in a halfway house which faced closure by the county because of a lack of funding. The residents decided, through the encouragement and assistance of some of their compatriots and sponsors at Alcoholics Anonymous, to rent and operate the house themselves, for themselves, as none of them yet felt ready to live independently, despite the fact that they were all well into their periods of sobriety, and despite the fact that they had already lived for some time in a supervised halfway house and had received treatment for their addictions. From its inception, this first Oxford House was run differently from a typical halfway house. No staff was present at the house, and a resident could stay as long as he wished, provided he remained drug- and alcohol-free and paid his share of expenses. This model proved to be successful and Molloy expanded the concept and assisted other groups in starting other Oxford Houses around the country.

6. In 1988, Congress enacted and President Reagan signed legislation to encourage expansion of the Oxford House model for drug treatment on a nationwide scale. Pub.L. No. 100-690, 102 Stat. 4181 (November 18, 1988). As it was re-enacted in the ADAMHA Reorganization Act of 1992, the program requires all states receiving federal block grant funds for alcohol and drug abuse and mental health services to establish a revolving fund of at least $100,000.00 to make loans available to help establish group homes for recovering alcoholics and addicts. Groups of at least six recovering alcoholics or addicts who wish to live in a group home based on the Oxford House model can apply for a loan of up to $4,000.00 to cover the start-up costs of renting and equipping the home. The loans are interest-free and must be repaid by the residents of the home within two years. 42 U.S.C. ? 300x-25. The statute specifically requires the homes to follow the three basic rules of absolute sobriety and automatic expulsion, self-governance, and financial self-sufficiency.

7. The Missouri Department, through a contract with the Missouri Housing Development Commission, has established a revolving fund of $100,000.00 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. ? 300x-25 to provide start-up loans not to exceed $4,000.00 to Oxford House-type residences. The Missouri Department provides staff to locate suitable housing, arrange for the initial lease, screen and accept the first residents, offer technical assistance to establish the Oxford House, and give on-going assistance to residents of the Oxford House as needed to enable the home to operate under Oxford House principles. The Missouri Department also has a contractual relationship with Oxford House, Inc., for the collection, quality control, reporting, and other technical assistance associated with the loan funds awarded to Oxford House-type recovery homes under the contract with the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

8. All Oxford Houses share the same three basic rules: (1) each house must be democratically self-governing; (2) each house must be financially self-sufficient; and (3) any person using drugs or alcohol must be immediately expelled from the House.

Oxford Houses are not traditional half-way houses, because they do not have any on-site staff or supervision. Oxford House, Inc. and the Missouri Department provide assistance in setting up individual houses and provide initial technical support. Once established, however, individual Oxford Houses are no longer subject to direct, ongoing control by either Oxford House, Inc., or the Missouri Department, but instead become self governed. Residents make all decisions regarding management of the house, including decisions regarding admitting and expelling members.

Members of each house share expenses equally, elect their officers, and pay dues to Oxford House, Inc. Individual Oxford Houses must support themselves, including repaying the start-up loans. In general the houses have from 8 to 15 residents; they are segregated as to sex but are intentionally integrated by race, age and economic background. There are over 450 Oxford Houses in the United States. There is no limit on the length of time a resident may remain in the house, so long as the members remain drug and alcohol free, pay their share of the expenses, and are not expelled for disruptive behavior. The average length of stay is 13 to 15 months.

9. The three basic rules of self-governance, financial self-sufficiency, and automatic expulsion upon one use of drugs or alcohol are all therapeutically based. Substantial evidence presented at trial showed that these rules foster important and valid recovery aims. The rule of absolute sobriety is based on the prevailing and well-established medical opinion that total abstinence is required for effective treatment of alcoholism or drug addiction. The requirement that the members of a home automatically expel any member found to have used alcohol or drugs reinforces the recovery of the other members as it shows them, consistent with this basic tenet of substance abuse treatment, that there are no second chances and that one mistake will result in the loss of the Oxford House resource in a person's recovery. The evidence showed that alcoholics and drug abusers frequently have lost contact with their families or mainstream society prior to their recovery, and may lack or have lost basic life skills such as budgeting, arriving at work on time, maintaining employment, cooperating with family members, and managing their own lives. The rules of democratic self-governance and financial self-sufficiency enhance self-esteem while teaching or reteaching these basic life and social skills. All members must contribute equally to the expenses of the house; this also fosters self-esteem by requiring members to care for themselves and not rely financially on others. The houses are intentionally mixed by race, age and economic background; this reinforces the knowledge that drug and alcohol addiction are diseases...