Planning Commission backs group‑homes code text amendment to align local rules with state and federal law

The Morgan County Planning Commission unanimously recommended Jan. 9 that the County Commission approve a code text amendment clarifying how group homes are regulated in county zoning tables and text. Staff said the amendment implements edits tied to an ordinance the County Commission adopted Dec. 17, 2024, to ensure local code conforms with state and federal law.

Jeremy, the planning presenter, described the amendment as “piggybacking off of the group homes code text amendment that was approved on December 17, 2024.” He said the current draft makes mostly “scribe throughs” and terminology changes so the county’s use tables and definitions align with the ordinance adopted in December. Staff also identified an erroneous copied table in the draft produced by the code publisher (American Legal) and said the stray commercial table should be deleted.

Commissioners asked whether the draft is intended to conform to state law; legal counsel Janet confirmed the intent is to align county code with state and federal statutes and that staff has discussed adjusting language in reports to say an application “meets the requirements” instead of using the phrase “recommends,” to reduce confusion about recommendation language.

After a brief public‑hearing period with no public comments, Member Murray moved to recommend approval to the County Commission based on the findings in the memorandum dated Jan. 7, 2025; Member Wilson seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The action forwards the code amendment to the County Commission for final adoption. Staff said the amendment is intended to clarify local rules for group homes and remove inconsistencies with state and federal statutory requirements.