Disability committee asks Council to address group homes in land use code

Changes to city code that could affect the regulation of group homes for seniors and people with disabilities prompted a request for City Council to make further adjustments to the Land Development Code.

The Mayor’s Committee for People With Disabilities voted last month to approve a recommendation that reestablished some basic guidelines concerning group homes that were eliminated or weakened as part of December’s HOME initiative.

The change in question removed the limit on how many unrelated people could live in a home under single-family zoning classifications, with the goal of making it easier to open co-op housing options for college students.

Definitions for two types of group homes, which are typically run as for-profit businesses, were also removed in the code change. That resulted in concerns from local disability advocates that safety and operational inspections from Austin Code and the Austin Fire Department would come into question or not take in eligible properties where medical care was being provided.

The commission requested Council require a conditional use permit for group homes located in single-family zoning for properties housing from seven to 15 people, restore licensing and inspection requirements for homes with seven or more unrelated adults, and remove language concerning the provision of food for occupants by a third party.

The commission first heard of the possible effects for group homes at its April meeting, with Zoning and Platting Commissioner Betsy Greenberg suggesting it was possible that group homes with up to 15 residents could emerge around the city with little regulation or oversight.

Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool, who spearheaded the HOME and HOME 2 policy slates, said Greenberg was using the group homes issue to stir up objections to the larger HOME effort to increase housing density. She said group homes remain covered by the city’s building code and preserve the ability to inspect and otherwise regulate those businesses to ensure the health and safety of their residents.

Pool and her staff said the removal or softening of occupancy limits are needed to address affordability concerns and discriminatory practices, with other cities across the county making similar changes.

“We are simply shifting the building code items out of the zoning chapter. They still exist, but they’re in a different part of code. That’s basically what’s going on,” she told the Austin Monitor in April.

There is no action related to the group homes issue on the agenda for the commission’s Friday meeting.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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