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During their regular meeting for December, the Harlan City Council heard from members of the Woodland Hills community who presented a petition opposing an addiction recovery house in the neighborhood.

Mayor Joe Meadors called the meeting to order and asked if any citizens wished to address the council.

“Before we get started, I want to caution everybody, let’s not make this personal,” Meadors said. “Whatever you say, let’s keep it on the issue at hand.”

A representative for the Woodland Hills residents, Carl Moody, addressed the council concerning opposition to an addiction recovery house in the community.

“I have a petition here in my hand signed by 42 residents,” Moody said.

Moody told the council the residents were against any sort of drug rehabilitation facility or halfway house in the community.

“This is not personal,” Moody said. “We have nothing against the ladies who are trying to better themselves and stay off drugs. We’re just trying to look out for our families, our neighbors, and our property values most of all.”

Moody presented a copy of the Woodland Hills bylaws, which he stated only allow single family dwellings in the community and does not allow businesses of any type or manufacturing.

“Whose responsibility is it to uphold these bylaws?” Moody asked. “We do not want this facility in our neighborhood…do any of your zoning laws help keep these types of facilities out of a residential neighborhood?”

An individual, who declined to identify himself, offered an opposing opinion.

“Up until this morning, my plan was to come here and explain a lot of things in detail,” he said. “Then I received a letter from an attorney this morning and that changes things…people who have been such a big part of my life for all these years did not pick up a phone and call me. They can call the mayor, they can call police, they can call attorneys, but not a single person has called me.”

The individual stated there have been multiple violations of the community’s bylaws over the years which did not receive any action.

Following some heated discussion, Harlan City Attorney Karen Davenport addressed the question of zoning.

“You asked if there was some sort of zoning, and no, we don’t have zoning here in the city of Harlan,” Davenport said.

According to Davenport, similar issues have previously occurred within the city limits.

“We have to be very careful with what we do,” Davenport said. “There is the Federal Fair Housing Act. The Federal Fair Housing Act says for single-family dwellings, you cannot discriminate against groups that are housed for the purpose of a disability.”

Davenport explained discrimination against housing for disabled people is not allowed under federal law.

“The Americans with Disabilities Act considers people that are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction to be disabled,” Davenport said. “These are federal laws; we have no choice but to take a look at those…these considerations have to be factored in.”

Davenport then addressed the question of responsibility for enforcing a community’s bylaws.

“I think only you can protect and enforce any rights under your bylaws, I don’t think anybody else can do it,” Davenport said. “It would have to be people who actually live there and are effected by a violation.”

Meadors pointed out there is no action for the city to take on the matter.

“It’s clear there’s nothing the city can do at this point,” Meadors said. “Even if we enacted zoning, it would not apply. You cannot make it retroactive.”

Meadors stated zoning laws do not always work as expected.

“At this point, some of you may think zoning is the way to go,” Meadors said. “Zoning’s a great thing when it’s in your favor. When it limits or restricts your use of your property, it may not be exactly what you want…if you have restrictions in your titles, your deeds, that would be the way to go. If you all want to do something, that falls on you 100 percent.”

The council took no action on the matter.