A major public-private partnership aimed at building new sober living facilities in Sonoma County has hit a roadblock.
The Press Democrat reports the county had approved a $3.87 million opioid settlement grant to Buckelew Programs to construct four sober living houses with 68 beds. The project was to be matched and built at cost by the Gallaher Companies, leveraging private financing from Poppy Bank.
However, the county has paused the deal, citing concerns over protecting its investment if the facilities were to fail. County officials, wary of past contract failures, inserted legal language—a deed restriction and subordination clause—that the developers and bank say makes the project unfeasible for lending.
Developers are calling the county’s actions “risk-averse” and are urging supervisors to remove the restrictions to allow the desperately needed housing to move forward. The county, which has the third-highest opioid death rate in the Bay Area, says negotiations are ongoing.
