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Residents press Fulshear to regulate residential treatment homes after repeated police calls; council seeks legal review
Summary
Neighbors described multiple police calls and disruptive incidents at an unpermitted residential treatment home and urged the council to adopt ordinances requiring registration, minimum distances and oversight; staff recommended legal review and council took no formal action but asked for drafts in January.
Neighbors at the Dec. 16 Fulshear City Council meeting urged the city to tighten local rules after an apparent residential treatment facility opened in a single‑family neighborhood without notifying local authorities or the HOA.
Kathy Ward said the facility on Leah Lane was not a federally protected group home and for that reason did not carry the same protections and oversight she would expect. "We have people that won't walk down the street because there's been instances where the kids had a metal pole and walked around beating things," Ward said, and added that she had reviewed a Texas Health and Human Services license and that residents were paying roughly $480 per child per day for services.
Another neighbor, who said the family had logged eight police calls since September, described frequent responses by local police and emergency services. "Our peace and security is gone," the neighbor told council and asked the city how it tracks and inspects such uses.
Staff said the city discovered construction activity in mid‑year and has since wrestled with legal limits on local regulation of residential uses. Joshua Brothers of the planning department told council staff wants a registration or permitting path so the city knows where such facilities are located and can confirm whether they are licensed and inspected by appropriate state agencies. Brothers said the city must be careful not to run afoul of state or federal protections for residential uses, and recommended tabling final ordinance language until legal finishes a fuller review.
Council agreed that the public‑safety concerns were legitimate and requested that staff and legal return in January with a draft group‑homes ordinance and a companion reasonable‑accommodation ordinance that addresses ADA and federal concerns; council took no action on the zoning amendment today.
What happens next: staff and legal will continue drafting ordinance language that focuses on registration, basic local permitting and public‑safety protections while minimizing the risk of state preemption or unintended consequences to protected residential uses. The council expects to see the revised drafts at the January meeting.
