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CITY OF COLTON <br />AGENDA REPORT <br />FOR COUNCIL MEETING OF August 3. 1999 <br />TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />APPROVAL: Henry T. Garcia, City Manager r_iy <br />FROM: City Attorney <br />SUBJECT: Urgency Ordinance establishing regulations for permitting <br />residential and group care facilities and other congregate living <br />facilities. <br />DATE: August 3, 1999 <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Legislatively adopted social policy favoring integration of special needs groups such as <br />the handicapped, mentally ill, recovering drug addicts and alcoholics into local residential <br />settings, instead of incarceration or institutionalization, has created an enormous <br />demand for special needs housing. At the same time, state laws were passed to prohibit <br />cities from regulating certain licensed facilities for six or fewer residents. Additionally, <br />the Federal Fair Housing Act Amendments also place significant restrictions on the <br />ability of cities to regulate most facilities, even when the facilities contain more than six <br />residents or are completely unregulated by the state. <br />Nevertheless, Section 3604(f)(9) of the Federal Housing Act Amendments generally <br />provides that there is nothing in the law requiring that a dwelling be made available to an <br />individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of <br />other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the <br />property of others. (42 U.S.C. §3604(f)(9).) Thus, for facilities with seven or more <br />residents or for unlicensed facilities, cities may make individualized assessments <br />concerning dwellings to determine whether a dwelling should be made available to <br />certain tenants. <br />The attached urgency ordinance establishing regulations for permitting residential and <br />group care facilities in all residential areas contains provisions requiring such an <br />assessment as part of the review and approval of a conditional use permit. The urgency <br />ordinance contains the following provisions: <br />1. It contains definitions for "congregate residence" and "residential or group care <br />facility." <br />2. Consistent with state law, it continues to permit licensed residential or group <br />care facilities serving six or fewer residents in all residential zones. <br />RVPUB\MXM\523280 <br />Item #4 <br />