Title
Proposal for Group Home Comprehensive Improvement Package
Description
Request authorization for City staff to proceed and finalize a Group Home Comprehensive Improvement Package according to the implementation framework outlined below. The package includes modifications to the Zoning Ordinance related to group homes and a draft licensing program for structured sober living homes.
Report
Summary
At the direction of City Council, Planning and Development Department (PDD) staff formed the Group Home Working Committee in early summer 2017 with a broad range of stakeholders and staff to discuss improvements and gather input on the City's ordinances and policies regarding sober living and other residential care homes. Staff scheduled eight, two-hour Committee stakeholder meetings over several months that were held June 12, July 19, Aug. 31, Oct. 9, Nov. 7, Nov. 20, Nov. 30, and Dec. 6. These public forums allowed for open and robust discussion and vetting of the issues addressed in the proposals in this report. Additionally, staff facilitated numerous focused stakeholder group meetings with the City's contracted group home consultant to provide participants an opportunity to get clarification on national best practices and local, state and federal legal considerations.
The full Working Committee notification list has grown to approximately 100 individuals and includes several dozen residents and Take Action Phoenix (TAP) neighborhood coalition members, sober living home operators and former sober living home residents, experts in addiction and substance abuse treatment, fair housing advocates and representatives for providers of services to people with disabilities, and a current assisted living home operator and industry representative. In addition to facilitating the Working Committee, PDD staff developed proposals outlined in this report to update the Zoning Ordinance. Staff from the City Clerk and Neighborhood Services departments led efforts to draft the licensing program proposal. Staff from the Equal Opportunity, Finance, Fire, and Police departments, as well as the Government Relations and City Prosecutor's offices, and representatives from several state agencies, were on hand throughout the process to provide updates and feedback on group home related topics on which they are subject matter experts.
Staff has outlined in this report a Group Home Comprehensive Improvement Package with a detailed implementation framework designed for full City Council review and potential adoption at the March 21, 2018 Formal Meeting. This implementation timeline matches the framework City Council adopted at the Nov. 29 Formal Meeting and factors in statutorily mandated waiting periods for new fees pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes as well as new requirements for increased formal public discussion and notification of Zoning Ordinance text amendments. There are two major regulatory proposals- zoning enhancements and licensing framework.
Proposed Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment
One of the two major components of the Improvement Package is proposed amendment language to the zoning ordinance to update group home definitions, zoning standards, parking standards and reasonable accommodation provisions. Proposed changes include the following:
- Definitions for adult day care home, boarding house and group home will be updated and new terms will be added and defined to include block face, community residence home and community residence center. A community residence home would replace assisted living home, residential care home and sober living home. Community residence center would replace assisted living center and residential care center.
- Restrictions on boarding houses in single-family zoning districts in order to prohibit unlicensed group living quarters that do not emulate a family or have a required license to operate.
- Clarifying the half-mile criteria within the reasonable accommodation provision.
- Clarifying that the Disability Accommodation Review process will be used to consider requests not related to spacing, such as for parking requirements or number of residents.
- Adding a public notice process to allow for written comments and the creation of an advisory board to make recommendations regarding Requests for Disability Accommodation Reviews.
- Adding criteria to prohibit a new community residence home from locating adjacent to, on the same block face or abutting to the rear or at a 90 degree angle from the rear yard of an existing community residence home.
- Adding a spacing requirement for a proposed Community Residence Center in addition to the required use permit approval. Also add use permit conditions that must be met in order to approve granting of the use permit. In addition, the maximum number of residences would be stipulated as part of the use permit approval process.
- Clarifying parking requirements for assisted living homes/community residence homes and assisted living centers/community residence centers.
- Adding minimum parking standards for structured sober living homes to require a minimum of four spaces on-site.
- Clarifying that fire suppression systems cannot be required for structured sober living homes.
- Exploring adding provisions to address the clustering impacts of smaller Community Residence Homes with less than five residents from locating adjacent to each other in single-family residential zoning districts or clustering above a maximum threshold in multi-family zoning districts.
Zoning Ordinance modifications will be presented, discussed and acted upon according to the implementation framework outlined in the timeline listed below.
Proposed Licensing Framework
The other major component of this package is a conceptual framework for a licensing program for structured sober living homes in which two or more persons reside. In developing this concept, staff considered:
- The authority granted by the State of Arizona for municipal regulation of structured sober living homes.
- Federal Fair Housing and Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.
- State laws prohibiting municipalities from imposing duplicative regulation and requiring compliance with a Regulatory Bill of Rights.
- Constitutional and other constraints related to enforcement.
- The importance of avoiding a misperception that licensing could guarantee the quality of care provided by any establishment.
The conceptual framework would be administered by the City Clerk Department and include:
- Licensing structured sober living homes - issuing a license to a specific address and group home owner/operator.
- Licensing structured sober living home managers - issuing a license to persons managing a group home and requiring certain qualifications (such as training, education, certifications, etc.)
- Requiring identification, proof of lawful presence, and criminal background checks for both structured sober living home owners and managers.
- Collecting information about the home such as a floor plan, property owner information/proof of authority to occupy the property and copies of various home operation related documents.
- Establishing City required minimum operation standards for the home.
Each home would be inspected by the Neighborhood Services Department prior to licensing. Once licensed, all licensees would be required to provide the City with notice prior to making any changes impacting the information submitted with the original application. The renewal process would include payment of a nominal fee and the licensee’s confirmation that no changes have occurred that would impact the information provided with the initial application.
Fees charged to license applicants would be established to fully recover the costs of the application process and the initial required inspection. Initial estimates indicate fees could range from $800-$1,500 for a structured sober living home license and from $100-$300 for a structured sober living home manager license.
In addition, there would be unrecovered costs related to investigation and enforcement of potential violations, including investigation of complaints related to unlicensed businesses. Staff estimates the additional, unrecovered General Fund costs to implement the new licensing program would be between approximately $200,000 to $500,000. *For the remainder of 2017-18, these costs would have to be covered by the General Fund contingency.* If there is a budget surplus for 2018-19, these costs would be deducted from the surplus; if there is a budget deficit in 2018-19, new revenue sources or offsetting service reductions would need to be identified. The estimated unrecovered costs could be impacted by a number of variables, including the number of licensed establishments; frequency of complaints of violations; and the scope, number and detail of inspections required to ensure compliance with requirements. After details of the framework have been fully developed with stakeholder input, and a draft ordinance is finalized for Council review, revised cost estimates will be presented.
Upon Council approval of this item, staff will proceed with drafting ordinance language to correspond to this conceptual licensing framework and move forward with a broader notification to potential stakeholders to provide them with the opportunity to provide additional input before final action by the Council. In addition, staff will post notice of proposed fees in accordance with state law.
Timeline
The proposed timeline for proceeding with development and implementation of the zoning and licensing components described above is:
- Dec. 7, 2017: Request Planning Commission initiation of a zoning ordinance text amendment.
- Dec. 13, 2017: Present Group Home Improvement Package recommendations to full City Council.
- December 2017: Review consultant locational analysis and mapping exercise data.
- December 2017/January 2018: Finalize language for Zoning and other recommended changes based upon mapping analysis and City Council direction.
- January 2018: Broad stakeholder notice regarding proposed Structured Sober Living Home License regulations.
- January 2018: Post proposed new license fee on City website pursuant to state law.
- January 2018: Group Home Working Committee meeting to review draft license and zoning ordinance language.
- January/February 2018: Staff to present Zoning proposal to the 15 Village Planning Committees for consideration and action.
- February 2018: Gather stakeholder feedback on license process changes and finalize proposed ordinance.
- March 1, 2018: Planning Commission to review Zoning Ordinance modifications for consideration and action.
- March 21, 2018: Full City Council to consider and make a recommendation on the Group Home Comprehensive Improvement Package, which includes the license and zoning ordinance modifications.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Council authorize staff to proceed with a Group Home Comprehensive Improvement Package, including a Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment and a Licensing Program, in accordance with the implementation framework, budget impact and timeline described above. *This will include a General Fund contingency allocation for 2017-18 of up to $500,000 when the Comprehensive Improvement Package is adopted in March.* Staff also recommends that the Council direct staff to continue legislative efforts to have a licensing program adopted by the State.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua, Acting Deputy City Manager Toni Maccarone, and the Planning and Development, City Clerk and Neighborhood Services departments.