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Hammond council tables overhaul of group-living rules after hours of public concern
Summary
After extensive public comment and council debate about where group homes and care facilities could be allowed, the Hammond City Council agreed to table an ordinance that would clarify definitions and set specific use standards for group living and care facilities in the Unified Development Code.
Hammond — The City Council on Tuesday tabled a proposed rewrite of the Unified Development Code section that defines and regulates group living and care facilities after residents and council members raised concerns about neighborhood impacts and enforcement of existing homes.
City planner Frankie Legault, who drafted the language, told the council the proposal was intended to “clarify what type of group home we’re gonna have” and to match state and federal references, including citations to the Louisiana Revised Statutes and the Fair Housing Act. Legault said the draft attempts to identify roughly 50 types of group homes and add "specific use standards" so planning staff and the planning commission have clear conditions to apply during review.
Residents and several council members said the draft, while helpful in some respects, did not address a more immediate problem: properties operating as group homes without permits or proper licensing. One resident said there are three such houses in a single neighborhood that neighbors say were approved without adequate notice, and urged stronger enforcement and clearer notice to residents.
Planner Charles Boscher said staff began looking at group housing when alerted to problem properties and that Legault has worked on the language since February. Boscher described the policy goal as giving the city "regulatory authority that's within the guidelines" of state and federal law while preventing very large occupancies in single-family neighborhoods.
Council members pressed staff on two practical questions: whether certain residential zones (for example, RS 11 and RS 11A) would permit adult day care homes, family childcare and other group-living types, and whether existing nonconforming homes would be grandfathered. Legault and administration staff said permitted and conditional uses are treated differently: homes that were lawfully permitted under prior rules could remain, while operations that never went through required permitting could be cited and potentially shut down.
Several council members suggested edits before the ordinance returns, including placing a top-line prohibition against facilities that serve persons who present a direct threat to persons or property, moving more categories to conditional uses so councilmembers and planning and zoning would review them, and adding nonconforming language that gives existing operations a limited time to come into compliance. One councilmember argued the draft should put the alcohol/drug-use and criminal-history prohibitions “at the very top” of the standards so those matters are checked immediately when an applicant seeks approval.
After nearly three hours of public testimony and council questions, a motion to table the ordinance so staff can incorporate council and public feedback passed. Councilmembers said they want a revised draft and more robust community outreach before voting.
What happens next: The administration will revise the draft to reflect the council’s suggested changes, work with planning and zoning on conditional-use options and nonconforming-language, and return the item for further public hearings and council consideration.
