Frogtown sober houses may be too close to other supportive housing

Sober housing operators in St. Paul and elsewhere are wrestling with regulations, and worrying that they could close. A combination of city-dictated physical separation requirements, new state rules, and loss of payments from at least two closed service providers have created a perfect storm.
The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) has approved just a few distance variance requests out of more than a dozen recently. Some service providers appealed denials to the city council for hearings this month.
Some housing operators in Frogtown are affected by the changes and will either have to close, move or make a case to the St. Paul City Council this month.
The zoning code states that supportive housing facilities shall be a minimum distance of 1,320 feet from specified congregate living facilities with more than six adult residents.
Sober homes only have a 330-foot distance requirement as they are regulated differently. But when sober houses technically become supportive housing, facilities become out of compliance if they are too close to other supportive housing.
Daniel Miller, who chairs the BZA, said it likely will take a city ordinance or state law change to rectify the situation. He empathized with home operators who worried about shutting down and forcing people into homelessness. “But our hands are tied,” he said.
One of the few requests OK’d this spring is in Frogtown at 709 University Ave., in the former Lifetrack building. Lifetrack merged with Lutheran Social Services (LSS) four years ago.
LSS plans to remodel the second floor of the University Avenue building to establish supportive housing for up to 19 adult residents. Like other requests, that also ran afoul of the distance requirements.
The BZA approved that request on a 4-1 vote, citing the proximity of needed services for residents and other factors. The LSS building is near supportive housing above the Rondo Community Outreach Library at University and Dale Street, and Ain Dah Yung, 789 University Ave. The required variance is for 762 feet.
One issue is legislative changes. Sober houses will be referred to as “recovery residences.” Processes will go into place for voluntary certification and some facilities to receive housing support payments. While some sober housing facilities are self-pay for residents who seek supportive and sober living, others rely on subsidies to cover needs including meals and staffing. Those homes faced dilemmas in the wake of fraud investigations that shut down programs including NuWay and Evergreen. Those closings shut off sources of revenue.
Variances must meet six legal findings to be approved, according to Josh Ladd, an assistant city attorney. He said the rejected requests don’t meet all six findings.
Supportive housing are facilities that cater to people with disabilities or special needs. The intent of distance requirements is to prevent a high concentration of institutional facilities in the same neighborhood, according to Ladd.
The distance requirement was upheld in a lengthy and complicated legal fight between the city of St. Paul and FamilyStyle Homes, Ladd explained. FamilyStyle operated more than two dozen mental health group homes near the Schmidt Brewery in the West End. In 1991, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld state and local regulations for distance requirements between supportive housing facilities, and the FamilyStyle Homes were closed.
Sober housing is regulated differently due to federal legal actions. These facilities basically provide a place for people to live with others in recovery from addiction. The city adopted the 330-foot minimum distance requirement in 2008.
St.Paul’s Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI) has spent many weeks reviewing sober housing facility license changes and whether or not distance variances are needed for each one.
Sarah Berg, deputy director of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), said in an email that while recovery housing is a critical part of treatment, the existing system of free-standing room-and-board facilities is not meeting the growing demand for stable, supportive housing options for people in recovery.
The health and human services bill passed by the 2025 legislature includes a proposal to improve supportive recovery housing options by creating a certification process for recovery residences or sober homes. Certification is optional and is only required if a provider is seeking to receive housing support from the state.
“Establishing a DHS certification process for recovery residences will enhance resident protection and oversight,” Berg said.