The City of Malibu is headed to court again, this time fighting back against California regulators whom they say turned a “blind eye” to Passages Malibu, a rehab center the city claims is operating against state law.
According to City Attorney Christi Hogin, the suit seeks to force the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to shut Passages down and force owners to apply for a new license to cover all eight buildings as one sprawling facility.
“Basically, we are looking for an order from the court directing the state to revoke their eight licenses,” Hogin said.
Hogin announced the legal action during Monday night’s City Council meeting at Malibu City Hall.
“[Tuesday] morning, the city is going to file a lawsuit against the State of California, and in particular, Jennifer Kent, who is the Director of California Health Services, who’s responsible for issuing licenses to alcohol and drug rehab programs,” she said.
The conflict between Passages and the City of Malibu has been ongoing since 2006, with the city most recently issuing a violation to the facility in February of 2014. Malibu officials and residents feel the facility is operating outside of the law and disrupting the calm of Sycamore Canyon, since its many buildings are all under the same direction and, according to the city, operate as one large hospital-like complex.
State officials pursued the violation issued by the city, making an unannounced visit to the rehab complex in September 2014 and viewing seven of its eight buildings.
News broke last week that a team of DHCS staffers had determined Passages had not broken any state regulations in its operation, which consists of eight separate but adjacent rehab buildings, much to the chagrin of Hogin and City Council.
“Passages hides behind their licenses — and the state regulators, for reasons which I cannot explain, have turned a blind eye to the way that Passages has manipulated state law,” Hogin said at the meeting.
This was reiterated in the legal petition prepared by Hogin and her associate, Shahiedah Coates, on behalf of the City of Malibu. In the petition, Hogin and Coates point out that the rehab facility itself claims it operates as one single unit.
“Passages Malibu describes itself as the ‘number one rehab in the world’ whose ‘flagship drug and alcohol treatment center is in Malibu, California on a 10-acre property that features a breathtaking Pacific Ocean view, tranquil setting, and palatial estates that house [its] residential and treatment facilities,’” the petition states.
“Yet, despite Passages Malibu’s promotion of its operations in the City of Malibu as a comprehensive, sprawling, singular rehab center, and despite evidence supporting this characterization, the California Department of Health Care Services outright refused to regulate Passages as a consolidated facility or apply the license requirements for the 10-acre, eight unit facility,” the petition goes on.
Claims are also made that the facility has done work to further link the eight buildings, including constructing an “unauthorized septic tank expansion and construction of walkways between the properties.”
The suit demands that the court step in to revoke Passages’ licenses.
“The City seeks a writ of mandate directing the [DHCS] to revoke the licenses to the Passages Malibu properties so that the units contained therein are no longer eligible for privileged status as single-family residences,” the petition states.
According to Councilmember Lou La Monte, who has been heavily involved in the city’s battle with Passages, it is concern over Malibu’s community that make this so important to council.
“They’re supposed to be a single-family home in a neighborhood. Six people are supposed to live in it and they’re supposed to be adopted by the neighborhood, and it’s supposed to be good for the community and good for the patients,” La Monte said. “When you see them grouped together like Passages, you don’t have a community anymore, you have a hospital.”
In response to questions over whether or not the suit will be successful, La Monte was philosophical.
“I think that we are completely right, if that means anything,” La Monte said, “We’ll see.”