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ordinance defines a "family" to include up to six unrelated persons living together as a household unit, and gives such <br />a group of unrelated persons the right to live in any zoning district without special permission. If that ordinance also <br />disallows a group home for six or fewer people with disabilities in a certain district or requires this home to seek a use <br />permit, such requirements would conflict with the Fair Housing Act. The ordinance treats persons with disabilities <br />worse than persons without disabilities. <br />A local government may generally restrict the ability of groups of unrelated persons to live together as long as the <br />restrictions are imposed on all such groups. Thus, in the case where a family is defined to include up to six unrelated <br />people, an ordinance would not, on its face, violate the Act if a group home for seven people with disabilities was not <br />allowed to locate in a single family zoned neighborhood, because a group of seven unrelated people without <br />disabilities would also be disallowed. However, as discussed below, because persons with disabilities are also <br />entitled to request reasonable accommodations in rules and policies, the group home for seven persons with <br />disabilities would have to be given the opportunity to seek an exception or waiver. If the criteria for reasonable <br />accommodation are met, the permit would have to be given in that instance, but the ordinance would not be invalid in <br />all circumstances. <br />Q. What is a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act? <br />As a general rule, the Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to make "reasonable accommodations" <br />(modifications or exceptions) to rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary <br />to afford persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use or enjoy a dwelling. <br />Even though a zoning ordinance imposes on group homes the same restrictions it imposes on other groups of <br />unrelated people, a local government may be required, in individual cases and when requested to do so, to grant a <br />reasonable accommodation to a group home for persons with disabilities. For example, it may be a reasonable <br />accommodation to waive a setback requirement so that a paved path of travel can be provided to residents who have <br />mobility impairments. A similar waiver might not be required for a different type of group home where residents do not <br />have difficulty negotiating steps and do not need a setback in order to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a <br />dwelling. <br />Not all requested modifications of rules or policies are reasonable. Whether a particular accommodation is <br />reasonable depends on the facts, and must be decided on a case -by -case basis. The determination of what is <br />reasonable depends on the answers to two questions: First, does the request impose an undue burden or expense <br />on the local govemment? Second, does the proposed use create a fundamental alteration in the zoning scheme? If <br />the answer to either question is "yes," the requested accommodation is unreasonable. <br />What is 'reasonable" in one circumstance may not be "reasonable" in another. For example, suppose a local <br />government does not allow groups of four or more unrelated people to live together in a single-family neighborhood. <br />A group home for four adults with mental retardation would very likely be able to show that it will have no more impact <br />on parking, traffic, noise, utility use, and other typical concerns of zoning than an "ordinary family." In this <br />circumstance, there would be no undue burden or expense for the local government nor would the single-family <br />character of the neighborhood be fundamentally altered. Granting an exception or waiver to the group home in this <br />circumstance does not invalidate the ordinance. The local government would still be able to keep groups of unrelated <br />persons without disabilities from living in single-family neighborhoods. <br />By contrast, a fifty -bed nursing home would not ordinarily be considered an appropriate use in a single-family <br />neighborhood, for obvious reasons having nothing to do with the disabilities of its residents. Such a facility might or <br />might not impose significant burdens and expense on the community, but it would likely create a fundamental change <br />in the single-family character of the neighborhood. On the other hand, a nursing home might not create a <br />"fundamental change" in a neighborhood zoned -for multi -family housing. The scope and magnitude of the <br />modification requested, and the features of the surrounding neighborhood are among the factors that will be taken <br />into account in determining whether a requested accommodation is reasonable. <br />Q. What is the procedure for requesting a reasonable accommodation? <br />Where a local zoning scheme specifies procedures for seeking a departure from the general rule, courts have <br />decided, and the Department of Justice and HUD agree, that these procedures must ordinarily be followed. If no <br />procedure is specified, persons with disabilities may, nevertheless, request a reasonable accommodation in some <br />other way, and a local government is obligated to grant it if it meets the criteria discussed above. A local <br />74 <br />