Trophy Club adopts ordinance to register nursing, assisted‑living and community homes, adds inspections and fees

Trophy Club’s Town Council on Sept. 22 approved an ordinance updating how nursing facilities, assisted‑living facilities and community homes are regulated in residential areas, adopting a town registration and inspection framework, a fee schedule and a provision to notify nearby properties when a reasonable‑accommodation request is filed.

Council approved the measure after staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission summarized changes meant to respond to resident complaints about an existing facility and to align local procedures with state law.

The ordinance requires registration and inspection at initial permit application, issuance of a certificate of occupancy, renewal and in response to complaints. Violations are categorized as life‑safety, critical or noncritical, with specified correction timeframes; failure to comply may lead to revocation of the certificate of occupancy. The council also adopted a fee schedule that includes a $300 permit application fee, $150 inspection fee and $150 reinspection fee, with outside consultant costs charged at actual cost.

Tamara, a town staff member who presented the ordinance, told the council the changes address recurring questions residents raised during workshops and commission hearings and that the town will report certain violations to the state licensing agency. Chairman Biggs of the Planning and Zoning Commission said, “I think this ordinance has probably been vetted more than anything else here as far from a legal standpoint and as far as input from citizens and council members and to the committees and commissions here.”

Residents at the public hearing urged stronger controls on street parking, commercial deliveries, trash handling and ambulance calls. Pat Kiefer, a resident of Fresh Meadow who said she reviewed emails about a prior facility, told the council that parking by medical staff and frequent vendor deliveries “was horrible” and that large trash containers and odors were a persistent problem. Sarah Miniatis, a resident on Oak Hill Drive, said the street‑parking patterns she observed at another facility created hazards on a curve: “parking is a big issue… it was also hazardous.”

Staff described other ordinance elements: on‑street parking will be limited to spaces directly adjacent to property frontages and existing local parking ordinances remain in effect; the ordinance requires compliance with state trash and medical‑waste disposal rules; properties making reasonable‑accommodation requests may receive notification to properties within 200 feet; and the town will provide public education materials and online documents after approval.

Brandon, a town staff member, said the council will adopt an administrative policy to implement the reasonable‑accommodation process rather than include detailed procedures in the zoning ordinance. He summarized the staff approach: “the reasonable accommodation process is not defined in ordinance, because it is federal law that kinda sets forth the idea of reasonable accommodation. So we'll develop internal policies for how to review reasonable accommodation requests, and to, to review and and ultimately approve or deny that.” Amber, a staff member, clarified that the ordinance uses the terms community home, nursing home and assisted‑living facility and that the older term “convalescent” was removed.

Speakers at the hearing urged limits on occupancy and tighter onsite controls. Kiefer recommended requiring 100% off‑street parking and commercial‑grade trash screening; she also asked council to specify an occupancy limit, noting an earlier approval that allowed 11 bedrooms at a prior facility. Staff and council members noted state law constrains local authority; the ordinance therefore aims to establish enforcement and registration tools the town can use within those constraints.

Council member (unnamed) moved to approve the ordinance with a correction adding an asterisk to the zoning use table to reflect reasonable‑accommodation review; Council member Steve seconded. The motion passed. Council members said the ordinance should be revisited if town experience shows additional regulatory changes are needed.

The ordinance will be enforced under the town code and town staff will publish the administrative documents used to process registrations and reasonable‑accommodation requests.