Former Biddeford Sober House Owner Files Federal Complaint

Question

The previous operator of a sober house in Biddeford has filed a federal discriminatory housing complaint in opposition to the city, AI (solitaryai.art) saying it was forced to leave a downtown condo that it used as a short lived dwelling for men combating substance abuse. Jesse Harvey of Journey House LLC operated a sober house last yr in an condominium at 45 Hill St. that might accommodate six males. Harvey’s complaint claims the city violated the federal honest housing law when a code enforcement officer instructed Harvey’s landlord that the sober house was an unlawful operation because the building didn't have a sprinkler system. Sprinkler techniques should not required for older traditional condo buildings, but the city had raised the likelihood that the unit containing the sober house might qualify as a rooming house and be topic to additional security requirements. The sober house was open for a yr in Biddeford earlier than closing final December.

Journey House Sober Living now operates in Sanford. Meanwhile, the seven-unit apartment constructing on Hill Street that's the subject of the dispute was destroyed April 2 in a hearth that killed one elderly resident. The State Fire Marshal’s Office has mentioned it might by no means decide a trigger of the fireplace because of the extensive injury it caused. The federal housing discrimination complaint was filed March 27 and is unrelated to the fire that occurred per week later. In the complaint, Harvey said the town and Code Enforcement Officer Roby Fecteau used zoning and land use ordinances to discriminate towards residents of the sober house. The complaint claims town instructed landlord Richard Langevin in October 2017 that the sober house was an "illegal operation" because the building didn't have sprinklers. Town grew to become aware of the sober house after two of its residents sought General Assistance from town. As part of that course of, the landlord completed a "Landlord Verification of Rental Unit" that required a constructing inspection if one had not been accomplished up to now 12 months, AI Art Jacques stated.

The city’s General Assistance administrator requested an inspection as a result of the residence had not been inspected for "quite some time" and its condition was unknown, Jacques stated. The town says the complainants refused to supply access to the condo unit despite reassurances that the inspection was only to find out if the apartment unit was secure, according to the city’s response to the complaint. "While metropolis representatives initially expressed issues that the operation may have to be labeled as a rooming home inside a multi-unit residence building thereby doubtlessly requiring a sprinkler system within the items, Complainant continued to function the sober house within the condominium constructing whereas the city sought clarification from the State of Maine Fire Marshal’s Office," Jacques wrote within the response to the complaint. The town was still waiting on more data in regards to the state requirements from the fireplace marshal’s office when the sober house closed. An investigation into the complaint shall be achieved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. The division will situation a charge if the investigation indicates affordable trigger that an unlawful discriminatory housing follow occurred. If no affordable cause is found, the complaint might be dismissed, according to a letter from the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity notifying the town of the complaint.

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