22.48.040 Community residential facilities.
The following standards and conditions apply to all community residential facilities:
A. “Group homes” in the city of Algona are classified as “community residential facilities (CRFs).” CRFs include all uses defined by AMC 22.08.014, including housing for persons with disabilities, children and domestic abuse shelters. CRFs do not include halfway houses (as defined by AMC 22.08.024). Secure community transition facilities are neither group homes nor transitional housing; they are classified as a separate use in Chapter 22.33 AMC.
B. CRFs are single-family structures, allowed in all residential and commercial zones. CRFs may house up to five residents plus two caregivers, with the special exception that state-licensed adult family homes and foster family homes are exempt from the city’s numerical limit.
C. Additionally, special exceptions to the limit on the number of occupants of CRFs may be granted for persons with disabilities pursuant to the accommodation procedure provided in subsection E of this section.
D. In the single-family zone, CRFs are required to be a single-family structure compatible with the surrounding area.
E. Accommodation of Persons with Disabilities.
1. Purpose. The city recognizes the need to make reasonable exceptions to its zoning code, if requested, to accommodate the special needs of persons with disabilities.
2. Application. Such exceptions may include:
a. Increasing the number of nonrelated persons allowed to live together in a single-family house;
b. Reducing setback requirements to retrofit a house with handicap accessible facilities;
c. Other modifications to the zoning code necessary to afford a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, provided such modification does not reduce public safety nor keep the intent of the code from being met.
3. Authority. Exceptions from code requirements are made pursuant to the requirements of the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, 42 USC Section 3604(f)(3)(B); and Washington Law Against Discrimination, Chapter 49.60 RCW for persons with disabilities as defined by federal law in 42 USC Section 3602(h).
4. Accommodation Procedure.
a. Request for Accommodation. Any person claiming to have a disability, or someone acting on his or her behalf, who wishes to be excused from an otherwise applicable requirement of this zoning code must provide the planning director with verifiable documentation of the disability and need for accommodation.
b. Decision Process.
i. Director Authority. If disability and need for accommodation are demonstrated, the planning director, in consultation with the city attorney, is hereby authorized to vary, modify, or waive the provisions of the zoning code, in order to provide reasonable accommodation necessary to afford a disabled person the opportunity to use a dwelling.
ii. Prompt Action. The director shall act promptly on the request for accommodation.
iii. No Fee. The director shall not charge a fee for responding to such request.
iv. Appeal. The director’s decision shall constitute final action by the city on the request for accommodation, and review of that decision will be available only in court. An action seeking review must be filed no more than twenty-one days after the director’s decision.
c. Decision Criteria.
i. Reasonable Response. The city’s duty to accommodate is an affirmative one, and the director is thereby authorized to provide accommodations in a thoughtful and reasonable manner.
ii. No Loss of Code Purpose or Safety. No reasonable accommodation shall be provided to any chapter of the zoning code, or other code adopted pursuant thereto, which does not substantially accomplish the purposes of that chapter or which would reduce the public safety.
iii. Burden of Proof on Applicant. The applicant shall have the burden of establishing that the proposed modification, waiver, or variance accomplishes substantially the same purpose without reduction of safety.
iv. Minimum Accommodation Needed. The accommodation shall be the minimum necessary to grant relief to the applicant.
d. Procedure Upon Change of Use.
i. Accommodation Personal Unless Similar Use Reestablished Within Six Months. The accommodation provided shall be personal to the applicant and shall not run with the land; provided, however, that a change in a residential structure necessary to accommodate the operation of a residential care provider to the disabled may be continued by future operations of similar facilities at the site which establish the same use within six months of the date the prior use by disabled persons or residential care provider ceases.
ii. Structure May Be Required to Be Brought Back into Compliance. The director may direct that any physical change in the structure which would otherwise be illegal under the zoning code, or other section of the Algona Municipal Code, be brought into compliance six months after the date of sale or transfer of a residential structure to a person or entity not qualifying for the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Fair Housing Act (FHA), and the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). (Ord. 1190-21 § 2, 2021).