Article: Court slaps town of Westminster for discrimination in HCRS zoning dispute

[JNA]

http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_23908261

The town argued that the home was required to obtain a zoning permit, but a state anti-discrimination statute requires that such homes "be considered by right to constitute a permitted single-family residential use of property."

How does your ordinance treat such a home ?

[mike gurnee]

Many if not most states proclaim that such residence group homes, with up to a certain number of clients, shall be treated as single family homes. To make it clear to the locals, we parrot that language in the zoning code and list it as permitted use in residential districts. You cannot require permits not required for single family homes by those state statutes. (A federal judge told this to a certain city council a few jobs ago.)

[dvdneal]

I treat them like any other home, but I have very lax standard in the county. One place I worked treated them as a by-right use, but you needed a building permit to add sprinklers and some limited ADA accessability.

[Tobinn]

We consider this sort of use as a Community Residential Home defined as follows:
Community residential home means a dwelling unit which provides a living environment for up to 14 unrelated residents who operate as the functional equivalent of a family, including such supervision and care by supportive staff as may be necessary to meet the physical, emotional and social needs of the residents. Community residential homes shall not be located within 1,000 feet of one another.

This is consistent with Florida Statute which also directs local municipalities thusly:
(2) Homes of six or fewer residents which otherwise meet the definition of a community residential home shall be deemed a single-family unit and a noncommercial, residential use for the purpose of local laws and ordinances. Homes of six or fewer residents which otherwise meet the definition of a community residential home shall be allowed in single-family or multifamily zoning without approval by the local government, provided that such homes shall not be located within a radius of 1,000 feet of another existing such home with six or fewer residents. Such homes with six or fewer residents shall not be required to comply with the notification provisions of this section; provided that, prior to licensure, the sponsoring agency provides the local government with the most recently published data compiled from the licensing entities that identifies all community residential homes within the jurisdictional limits of the local government in which the proposed site is to be located in order to show that no other community residential home is within a radius of 1,000 feet of the proposed home with six or fewer residents. At the time of home occupancy, the sponsoring agency must notify the local government that the home is licensed by the licensing entity.