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Owners move ahead with plans for sobriety house Agoura Hills officials are questioning whether the owners of a transitional living home for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts are abiding by the law. At a City Council meeting in December, about 20 residents from Mainmast Place in the Lake Lindero area urged City Council members to stop Charles and Lisa Knupp from using their home as a sober-living rehabilitation house. But Lisa Knupp said her neighbors needn't worry since she and her husband had leased the home and were looking to open a transitional home elsewhere in the city. The Knupps apparently changed their mind, canceled the lease and started moving recovering alcoholics and drug addicts into the home last week, a source told The Acorn. "Currently five to six males have been going in and out, (and) another load of mattresses was dropped off (on Dec. 31) . . . all twin, approximately six," the source said in an e-mail. "To my knowledge approval hasn't been given, and this neighborhood is now scared of these people." Many residents feel a treatment center is not an appropriate use of a home in a residential neighborhood filled with children. The Knupp's clients have included people addicted to alcohol, pharmaceuticals, heroin and methamphetamines. Lisa Knupp said felons will not be allowed to rent a room at the home. "It is not his intention to have this home be an alternative to jail—there will be no violent offenders there," she said. Louis Celeya, Agoura Hills assistant city manager, said the state provides protection for residential treatment centers under state law Title 22, but some licensing is required. Whether the Knupps are licensed or qualified to run a sober-living home is unknown. Charles and Lisa Knupp would not answer questions, citing client confidentiality. "As you can imagine, recovery is often a painful and substantial transition, and we are unwilling to exploit our commitment to their process," Charles Knupp wrote in an e-mail to The Acorn. "As far as our business practice is concerned, we can confidently state that we are working within the ethical and legal boundaries offered by our state." Lisa Knupp verified that she and her husband canceled the lease and will use the home as a sobriety house, but it is still unknown how many people, if any, have already moved in. But other questions remain, including whether a livein manager will oversee the sobriety of the new residents at the Mainmast home, how much renters will be charged to live at the place, and what services the monthly fee includes. Charles Knupp, 33, is a soberliving coach. His outpatient treatment program includes activities such as horseback riding, hiking, yoga and meditation. He also runs a 12-step recovery program along with family, group and individual coaching services. The California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs says it has the "sole authority" in state government to license adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities. There is a licensing and certification division within the ADP, which is charged with assuring that "quality services" are provided to all program participants in a "safe and healthful" environment. The ADP issues licenses and certification to alcohol and drug treatment providers. It also regulates and oversees the statewide system of alcohol and drug recovery and treatment facilities, programs and counselors. Agoura Hills Attorney Craig Steele said that usually group care homes for six or fewer residents are treated like single-family homes under the state law. City land-use permits are not required, although business registrations are needed, he said. "It is not clear that what was proposed was a facility for six or fewer residents," Steele said. "I do not know the status of their license with the state, if any." Lisa Knupp said her husband has not completed all the coursework for a certificate through the California Alcohol and Drug Programs, although his efforts are "on track." |
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