Bristol Township approved a new recovery house use at last week’s council meeting.
The move. officials said, is to clear up confusion between “group home” uses and “recovery house” uses.
Township Solicitor Scott Holbert, of Flager and Associates, said in recent months there has been some confusion for potential group and or recovery house operators within the township.
The amendment to the zoning ordinance was submitted to the township planning commission and the Bucks County Planning Commission, Holbert said. He said, the amendment was another housekeeping item for the township,
The recovery house use was sort of embedded within the group home use. So, what we did was split the recovery home use out because it was creating confusion as to locations, types and some of the regulations so this will provide a little clarity and a way to move forward, Holbert said.
“We’ve noticed some problems, planning has noticed some problems, in the last few months with how people have been coming in and it’s created some issues, and this will better protect the township,” he said.
Recovery Houses fall under the purview of federal laws, namely the Fair Housing and American Disabilities Acts. Holbert said county officials strongly encouraged the township to know the laws due to federal regulations.
Recovery Houses as a news topic in Lower Bucks County and statewide has been a controversial issue since the early 2010’s.
In 2017 then Governor Tom Wolf signed legislation to regulate recovery or “sober living” homes in Pennsylvania. Subsequently, In December of 2021, DDAP announced that the licensure program for drug and alcohol recovery houses was now open and accepting applications.
‘Without regulation or oversight, many of them became rogue and don’t provide a clean and safe environment for individuals that are in recovery, then state Rep. Frank Farry told WHYY News.
Estimates in late 2016 said the total number of recovery houses operating in Bristol Township was near 100, officials said. The number of licensed recovery houses in Bucks County is about 33 percent of the 2016 number.
In 2022 the commonwealth started to cite unlicensed recovery homes. Data for those operating alleged unlicensed homes has yet to be release for last year.
The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs lists all approved, licensed recovery homes and service. For many this is where recovery homes are where recovery begins.
Council approved the code amendment unanimously. .
