Agenda Date: 10/24/16
Subject:
Title
Recommendation concerning an ordinance amending Title 10 of the City Code concerning the definitions of Group Home for Persons with Handicaps, Handicap and Assisted Living Facility and to add supplementary standards for group homes for persons with disabilities.
Body
Presented By:
Jocelyn Mills, Community Development Director
BACKGROUND:
It has recently come to staff's attention that the city's zoning code definitions for group home for persons with handicaps, handicap, and assisted living facilities need to be updated. An application concerning a group home for persons with handicaps and related litigation have prompted these proposed amendments.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
In Littleton's zoning code, Title 10, Section 10-1-2 contains definitions. Below is the existing definition for group home for persons with handicaps:
GROUP HOME FOR PERSONS WITH HANDICAPS: A dwelling unit which is shared by four (4) or more persons with handicaps living together as a single housekeeping unit, including resident staff.
Group homes for persons with handicaps are permitted in the city's residential districts (R-1, R-2, R-3, R-3X, R-4 and R-5), in the Transition District (T) and in the Central Area District (CA) and are characterized by a single dwelling unit. The code distinguishes group homes from larger scale facilities which may provide 24 hour nursing and medical care, such as skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes/congregate housing and assisted living. Such facilities are only permitted in R-5, T and CA Districts and are characterized by multiple units within a facility.
The city received an application concerning a group home for persons with handicaps questioning the meaning of resident staff and seeking an accommodation under the Fair Housing Act to eliminate that requirement. In order to address this, staff recommends removal of the reference to resident staff.
The current definition for group home for persons with handicap...
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