The state of art guide for every city, county, and state
This new, definitive, state of the art guide to zoning for community residences for people with disabilities and for recovery communities represents the culmination of the author’s 50 years of experience reforming zoning to be more receptive to these uses in accord with sound planning and zoning principles and, since 1989, with the nation’s Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.
Learn how to make the reasonable accommdation that the Fair Housing Act requires for group housing for people with disabilities and when this housing constitutes a “family” under local zoning.
Learn how to legally and properly use spacing distances and evaluate proposals for a further reasonable accommodation that require case–by–case review (special use permit, conditional use permit, special exception, etc.).
Click here to download the new 177-page thorough report Reforming State and Local Zoning for Community Residences for People With Disabilities and for Recovery Communities completed in July 2024.
Click here to see the author’s extensive experience on this subject.
Even though the report was produced for the State of Florida, its guidance is applicable in any state and for any city or county.
A guide to the report:
While often focusing on sober living homes (known in the Florida state statutes as “recovery residences”) and recovery communities, this in-depth report:
(1) Describes the extent of the substance use epidemic sweeping Florida and the entire United States. (Chapter 2)
(2) Defines community residences, recovery residences, and recovery communities in detail including a thorough examination of the nature of recovery communities and provides model functional definitions for state legislation and local zoning codes. (Chapter 3)
(3) Provides the legal and practical foundations for zoning for these uses, including an in-depth explanation of the adverse impacts of clustering and concentrations, the legitimate government interests in protecting occupants from incompetent and scam operators, and preserving the residential character of neighborhoods. This analysis provides the legal basis for the recommended zoning approach. (Chapter 4)
(4) Furnishes maps and analysis illustrating what constitutes clustering on a block and concentrations in a neighborhood. (Chapters 5 and 6)
(5) Explains in significant detail the zoning approach that makes the required “reasonable accommodation” for these uses that uses the least restrictive means necessary to actually achieve legitimate government interests. (Chapter 6)
(6) Shows how to conduct case-by-case review to make a further reasonable accommodation in the four circumstances when a proposed community residence or recovery community does not meet the objective standards to be allowed as a permitted use. (Chapter 6)
(7) Identifies and analyzes the flaws (and in some cases, illegal) in current Florida statewide zoning for some community residences for some types of disabilities. (Chapter 7)
(8) Identifies the illegal zoning practices common to local zoning in Florida (and, frankly across the entire country). (Chapter 7)
(9) Details recommendations to bring Florida's statewide zoning and local zoning into compliance with the nation's Fair Housing Act as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. (Chapter 8)
(10) Includes an annotated bibliography of representative studies of the impacts of community residences on property values, turnover rates, and neighborhood safety. (Appendix A)
(11) Includes a sample initial application form for all proposed community residences and recovery communities on which local governments can base their application forms. (Appendix B)