Santa Monica residents furious over rogue sober living facility

“It was like immediate chaos,” a longtime Ocean Avenue resident, who lives next door and asked not to be named because of fear or retaliation, told The Post.” There were people fighting, smoking and so much noise.”

“We saw the door open, we saw people moving in. We’re like, ‘Hey, the last time we checked, there was no certificate of occupancy, there was no new business,’” former Councilmember Greg Morena, who lives down the block, told The Post.

Morena said local zoning laws require notice when a property’s use changes, typically through a conditional use permit or similar process. “They did zero outreach. None. Any change of use is supposed to trigger public notice,” he said.

According to information provided by the City of Santa Monica, a multi-department inspection team arrived at 413 Ocean Avenue Wednesday afternoon to perform a facility inspection. At that time, staff were told by an on-site worker the facility would operate as a sober living home program. 

The City said staff ultimately toured the building and found it “not in good shape” and not ready to serve as a residential site.  

According to the City, on-site staff told inspectors they had been unaware they were operating an unpermitted facility and said they would begin moving people out under the City’s directive. Some individuals, including those brought in from other states, had already been relocated to a facility in Thousand Oaks, staff said, adding that they were working to move everyone out.

City officials said they documented their findings and plan to send follow-up correspondence to the property owner, developer, operator and on-site staff reiterating the Notice to Vacate and tenant relocation requirements, updating administrative citation fines and outlining next steps. 

As of Monday, the facility was vacant. 

The Thanksgiving-week surprise struck a nerve because the neighborhood had just gone through a similar experience. In late October, residents were blindsided when 413 and 825 Ocean Avenue were earmarked for a county mental-health housing program and scheduled to receive 49 people with behavioral-health needs. 

The county’s plan was announced with little notice, and neighbors learned of it only when a late-night update stated that residents would soon be moving in.

Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete publicly criticized the rollout at the time, saying she lives near three similar facilities and had never received a heads-up or a community meeting.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath later acknowledged that communication surrounding the project had been inadequate. 

Morena said the October incident mobilized the neighborhood. In response, residents created Santa Monica Neighbors, a group that now includes hundreds of people. “We found out the first time the same way, after the fact,” he said. “We didn’t know much about these facilities, and neither did the neighborhood groups. We weren’t given any information. None.”

Mayor Negrete told The Post she will not allow operators to exploit gaps in oversight or transparency. “I’m not going to hide behind policy narratives that aren’t serving my community,” she said. “We have to call out unethical tactics that exploit vulnerable people and the neighborhoods they’re suddenly placed into. Transparency is the only way to protect both, and I’m pushing a directive to make sure this never happens again.”

Morena emphasized that neighbors are not opposed to recovery or mental-health housing but are opposed to secretive, unpermitted operations pushed into residential areas without community input. “When neighbors are involved, these facilities do great,” he said. “But when you skip zoning, skip safety, skip the process, you get this.”

“It takes a community to police a neighborhood,” Morena said. “We’re watching.”