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Fort Wayne council approves zoning changes to align with federal housing, disability law after heated debate
Summary
The Fort Wayne Common Council voted 6–3 to amend the city zoning code to comply with the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, removing a separate local category for addiction treatment centers while adding reasonable-accommodation language and related definition changes.
Ben Roussell, executive director of the Department of Planning Services, told the Fort Wayne Common Council the amendment is intended to bring the city's zoning code into compliance with federal law and clarify how group residential and treatment uses are treated.
"This amendment proposes to update language and bring the zoning ordinance into compliance with the Fair Housing Amendments Act," Roussell said, adding that the proposal also aligns treatment-center uses with medical-office uses to reflect Americans with Disabilities Act guidance.
The measure, G25-11-15, removes a standalone local definition for "addiction treatment centers" and adds reasonable-accommodation language that staff said would prevent…
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