Why some Peoria residents are opposing a sober living home proposal in their neighborhood

A sober living group home is attempting to open a six-person facility in Peoria's historic Uplands neighborhood. Some Uplands residents do not want to see that many people living in the home — but there may be nothing they can do about it.

Invictus Woods, a non-profit company, purchased a house at 1018 N. Parkside Drive last year and planned to open the property as a sober living home for eight people in addiction recovery.

After purchasing the home, Invictus Woods moved in eight residents, raising alarms in the neighborhood as a code violation.

In Peoria, no more than three unrelated adults can live in the same home without approval from the city. When Invictus Woods moved eight people into the home, they did not have that special permission, an oversight they take full responsibility for, according to Invictus Woods' director Paul Butler.

Butler said Invictus Woods did not understand there was a residential association in the Uplands and did not know the rules of the neighborhood. He said all the other homes they own are properly zoned.

"Where our confusion had come from, to be quite honest, was the city had seemed to have gotten a little lax on some of this. There are multiple other Oxfords (sober houses) in the area that had tons of people, way more than eight living in them," Butler said. "But we totally admit our error and fault in that that we should have done more due diligence on that house."

More: Illinois American Water is pushing for another rate hike. Here's how much bills could rise

'They know what the rules are'

Uplands resident and former neighborhood association president C.J. Summers said he isn't quite buying Invictus Woods' explanation that they didn't know the rules, given the group operates other homes in Peoria.

"They know what the rules are — it was all just a ruse," Summers said. "When somebody starts off in bad faith like that it doesn't give you a lot of confidence in them."

Butler said their histories in past neighborhoods, like the East Bluff and Central Peoria, show they have a strong track record of being good neighbors. Butler said their homes have tight rules, a zero-tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol and a structured environment.

He said an Invictus Woods home is really no different than any other neighbor. He said they do not house anyone with violent offenses or sexual offenses.

"I just want people to know that these are not dangerous people we're putting there," Butler said. "We do background checks, drug testing. That's been my spiel with neighbors because I understand if you own a house and you're raising a family and it's like 'whoa,' I get that."

Uplands neighborhood association president J.R. Hinchee said no one in the neighborhood would have any problem with Invictus Woods opening a sober living home if they stuck to three people living there.

"We feel if we open the gates and say, 'OK, this can be approved' it sets a precedent for others to seek similar arrangements," Hinchee said. "Family care facility is broad — it doesn't have to apply to a recovery home. We feel it could apply to a potential landlord wanting to house students."

More: Peoria police say man's unfortunate death was not a homicide. Coroner disagrees

A matter of financials

When informed they had violated city code, Invictus Woods said they immediately moved five of the residents into Airbnbs to come into compliance. But they also say having just three people living in the home is not financially feasible long-term.

A six-person house, however, would make financial sense, Butler said.

"We would of course prefer, the more the better. But we also like to say with this too, it's not about us making a profit, it's about making it affordable for the clients," Butler said. "We could technically have three, but then we would have to charge an amount that would make it unaffordable for the clients. So, of course, the more we have, the cheaper we can make it for clients."

Butler said Invictus Woods chose the Uplands house because they wanted to have a home in a nice neighborhood.

Hinchee said it is not the concern for Uplands residents if the property is not financially feasible for Invictus Woods. He said there is also already an "abundance of support services" in the West Bluff.

"If there's concern that you can't stay sober without six roommates, there's these group support networks that check in on you. You're not alone in your struggles," Hinchee said. "So it take a little of the edge off on how compelling you need to have six, seven, eight, nine, however many they're going to sell to do this."

Hinchee stresses, however, that opposition in the Uplands has nothing to do with the house being a sober living home.

"Nobody is against your mission of helping people stay sober or against the group housing living arrangement, and that needs to be very clear. We're not against living next to recovering addicts — we already have those in our neighborhood, they're our neighbors and friends," Hinchee said. "That's OK. Six people in a house? ... No, not really."

New direction, new rules

Invictus Woods moved to get approval from the Peoria Planning and Zoning Commission in November to allow for them to house eight adults in the home.

Uplands residents resisted this with letters and neighborhood association meetings. They worry allowing Invictus Woods to house that many people will set bad precedent in the neighborhood.

When it became apparent their request to house eight people would not be approved by the City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission, Invictus Woods pivoted again.

More: Neighborhood nuisance? Future of Peoria fireworks show in doubt

To get approval for a home with eight unrelated adults living in it, Invictus Woods would have needed to win support of the council and likely the neighborhood.

But a house with six people in it would only require administrative approval from the city's community development department.

City code allows for six unrelated adults to live together in what's called a family care facility, in a residential neighborhood, as long as the home is up to code. Because the courts have upheld alcoholism as a disability, Invictus Woods qualifies as a family care facility under city code.

A family care facility is defined by city code as a non-medical facility for no more than eight unrelated adults in a single dwelling for people who "due to advanced age, handicap, impairment due to chronic illness, or status as a minor who is unable to live with parents or guardians, require assistance and/or supervision, and who reside together in a family-type environment as a single, housekeeping unit."

"The way administrative approval works is essentially council, under policy, has approved these administrative use types for all neighborhoods in Peoria. So if someone wants to go through that line, it's more of a code compliance," community development director Joe Dulin said. "The higher occupancy is what kicks into the special use."

This means as long as the home meets city requirements, Invictus Woods will be allowed to have six adults living in the North Parkside Drive home, despite protests from Uplands residents.

Summers said he feels that Invictus Woods is attempting a run-around of the process so they do not have to deal with objections from the neighborhood, planning and zoning or the City Council.

"It'll put the onus on us to constantly police the place and make sure that they aren't putting more residents in there than they should," Summers said.

Peoria city code used to not consider alcoholism as a disability as it applies to family care facility, but after a court ruling said otherwise, Peoria changed its code about a year ago.

"If you look at a lot of different case law it really comes down to where the courts have decided that you can't discriminate against the type, to some degree, of what the use is going to be as long as all the codes are applicable and you treat them all the same," Dulin said.

More: An in-depth look at WTVP's future and criminal investigation

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Sober living home has caused controversy in Peoria neighborhood