BROOKINGS After more than two hours of discussion and testimony on Tuesday night, the Brookings City Council rejected, on a pair of unanimous votes, a pair of accommodation requests to allow bigger sober living sites in Brookings.
The decision affects two residences at 312 Eighth Ave. and 908 First St. operating as Oxford House sober living sites. The former isnt in compliance with city rules stating that no more than three unrelated people can live together in a home thats classified as a single-family residence it currently has six occupants, and requested to be allowed seven. The latter is in compliance, since its a duplex with six residents, but hoped to increase to eight residents. The requests were filed Oct. 24 under the auspices of the Federal Fair Housing Act.
Both votes were 6-0, with Councilor Andrew Rasmussen absent. Oxford Houses around the country are homes where residents operate independently and democratically with a focus on community sober living.
As it stands, the 312 Eighth Ave. location will have until early to mid-December to come into compliance, according to the city. That residence is owned by Jared Gass of Toronto while the 908 First St. location is owned by Kyle Isenberg of Brookings. The sites are leased by the residents of each Oxford House.
According to a letter from Washington, D.C.-based attorney Steven G. Polin on behalf of Oxford House, such residences provide an opportunity for recovering alcoholics and substances abusers to maintain their sobriety in a supportive living environment that does not require the provision of treatment or counseling services.
He attended Tuesday nights meeting via phone. We have found over the years that one of the reasons that individuals come to live in Oxford House is that they are unable to live independently without the use of drugs and alcohol, Polin said. Many of them cant live at home because their loved ones dont trust them. Sometimes you hear (about) locks being placed on medicine cabinets so they cant get the prescription drugs. Many of the individuals have lost custody of their kids, and by living at Oxford House theyre able to live the type of sobriety and stability that enables them to resume having a custodial arrangement with their kids and reunite with their family.
Polin also noted that while the national organization assists in the establishment of each house, theyre otherwise financially self-supported, democratically run and immediately expel anyone who uses drugs or alcohol, inside or outside the house.
Residents who spoke against the reasonable accommodation requests cited a variety of factors, including safety concerns, but also emphasized their ire was not aimed at the people seeking treatment indeed, they endorsed those endeavors but rather that city rules werent being followed, particularly at the 312 Eighth St. location.
Oxford House representatives also spoke during the meeting. One of them was Leaf Ploub, who is the regional manager for South Dakota and California. His story is intensely linked with Oxford House, he said, as he spent time within the houses and became clean and sober on June 11, 2016.
We came into Brookings because the treatment providers were saying that they needed housing here for people that were in recovery from alcoholism and addiction, Ploub said.
He also talked about the therapeutic value of an Oxford House, noting they are peer-ran and self-supporting.
The benefit of having a house like that speaking as a man of experience when I first got clean and sober, by default we are programmed to push back, Ploub explained. When we have one person telling us what to do, our default button is to push back against that. But when I was living in a house that was full of men that were on the same journey that I was on, they quickly became my family. It turned into rather than one person saying, Leaf, youre doing this wrong, it was a group of men that I had respect for that were saying, Hey, were noticing these behaviors and were worried about you and wed like you to make some changes.
He added, It was a lot easier for me to respond to a group of men, like-minded individuals, that were on the same journey that I was on to help me stay on the tracks and propel me in the right direction.
Devin Coats, a community outreach worker for Oxford House, spoke as well. He covers the northeast part of South Dakota including Aberdeen, Watertown and Brookings and lived in an Oxford House while recovering from addiction.
He said it taught him responsibility and gave him purpose and something to look forward to.
Coats pointed out that Oxford House has several community partners in Brookings, including parole/probation officers, Teen Challenge, Brookings Behavioral Health, Brookings County Drug Court and The Salvation Army.
Were here to try and be a positive influence on the community, Coats said.
Its something that was acknowledged by members of the City Council, including Holly Tilton Byrne.
I want to first start by really commending the residents of Oxford House and the individuals that provided their testimony tonight from the Oxford House, Tilton Byrne said.
I think the program that youve (started) really is a fantastic program and I think that the efforts that youre making and the difficulty that it is to get through addiction every day is something that is really notable and so I commend you for what youre doing.
She finished, I personally have loved ones that have dealt with this very disability, and so I can absolutely relate not as someone who has suffered from it myself, but as someone who has watched it happen. My thoughts are with you, and I hope that our community continues to show you support through the different resources that are available.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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