Sober house receives needed variance

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.

comments powered by Disqus

August 19, 2008

By DAN HEATH The Press Republican Tue Aug 19, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH -- The City of Plattsburgh Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance that would allow establishment of a sober-living house for women in the Center City.

Lorretta Rietsma and her brother, Larry Hoch, represented the Mary DeVeau Women's Sober Living House project before the Zoning Board at a meeting Monday night.

"I'm very grateful. I understand the misconceptions and apprehension," Rietsma said. "I appreciate the thoroughness with which they did their jobs."

She said next steps include becoming incorporated, closing on the house, about 6 months of home renovations and creating a referral network.

"We hope by sometime next spring we will be able to start accepting women into the program," Rietsma said.

Hoch said under provisions of the Fair Housing Act, recovering alcoholics are considered to have a handicap. That designation requires the Zoning Board to grant the variance, he said.

The Zoning Board voted 5-1 in favor of granting the area variance to allow 13 people in one house. Zoning Board members Chester Mazzone, Kathy Latinville, Michelle LaBounty, Connie Fisher and Stephen Fuller voted in favor, Maurica Gilbert voted in opposition and John Seiden abstained.

Mazzone said he voted in favor based on details of the Fair Housing Act, which is very specific as to when a variance needs to be granted. Latinville said she agreed, and also based her vote on Family Court Judge Timothy Lawliss's call for this type of house for many of the people who pass through Family Court.

Seiden said he sees the benefit, but also recognizes the city's work to resolve density issues in the Center City area.

Several people spoke in favor of the project. Gwen Reyell of Plattsburgh said she was an addict who was allowed to enter a clean house in West Hartford, Conn.

"These houses do work if you want it (sobriety)," she said.

Reyell later earned a degree in social work from the University of Connecticut.

Susan Green of Saranac said her daughter entered a treatment program in the Utica area when nothing was available locally. She said that helped her get her daughter back from addiction.

In a letter to the board, Green said, "I've been praying for a house for women in recovery for a long time."

Tracy Staub of Plattsburgh said she also is a recovering alcoholic. She was unable to return home when she came out of treatment due to mental and emotional abuse from a spouse, but through a similar sober house has since gone on to earn a degree in alcohol- and substance-abuse counseling.

"This house is more structured than any house I experienced. I think it's great to have a house like this in Plattsburgh to help women recover and prosper," Staub said.

No one spoke in opposition, although several did at the July meeting. Concerns were raised about the effect on a neighborhood of single-family residences, the failure rate of those in recovery, constant changes in who will live at the house and the effect on neighborhood children.

One of those area residents submitted a letter in opposition. Michael Smith of Plattsburgh urged the Zoning Board to uphold zoning regulations and emphasized that the area is the largest stretch of owner-occupied housing on Brinkerhoff Street.

He said every family that leaves leads to an increase in density and changes the balance of the neighborhood.

The eight-bedroom, six-and-a-half bathroom house at 86 Brinkerhoff St. will be home to 12 women who have completed alcohol-abuse treatment to provide each other support as they attempt to reenter society and one "house mother." At one time the structure housed foreign students who attended Mount Assumption Institute and later Seton Catholic Central School.

At the July Zoning Board meeting, Rietsema said it's a good location because there are three Alcoholics Anonymous meeting places within walking distance. Women in the program are not allowed to have automobiles.

It is also in a location where the women would be able to get to jobs.

The proposed program calls for the women to run the house together under the guidance of senior members while they live and eat together. All must work and contribute to the cost of running the house.

No television is allowed and occupants can only listen to music through headphones after they complete 30 days in the program. Those who break the rules will be evicted immediately, Rietsema said in July.

The home is owned by Evelyn Dubrey. She previously said uses for the property and prospects for its sale are limited because of its size.

In a letter of support for the sober house, Whitbeck Associates said Rietsma was the only party that has made an offer to buy the house since it went on the market in April.

Rietsema was obviously pleased with the Zoning Board's decision.

"I am ecstatic that Plattsburgh will be given an opportunity to become a home for women who are committed to early recovery from alcoholism and addiction," Rietsma said after receiving congratulations outside the room that was packed with supporters.

dheath@pressrepublican.com