Neighbors raise access and safety concerns over proposed adult foster care conversion; city attorney points to state and federal limits

Neighbors from the Welter Park neighborhood urged the Gladstone City Council to examine whether the city’s home‑occupation regulations (GMC Ch. 17.78) apply when residential activities include continuous operational service characteristics, such as employees, deliveries and high-frequency medical visits.

Tony Perry and other residents said a pending conversion at 1230 Windsor (a narrow, dead‑end street) would add bedrooms, staff and deliveries and could create chronic parking, turning and emergency‑access problems. Residents presented a petition signed by dozens of neighbors and asked the council to consider case‑by‑case application of home‑occupation rules or other tools to protect neighborhood livability.

City Attorney Chad Jacobs replied that state law (House Bill 2005) requires jurisdictions to allow adult foster care homes in residential zones and that federal law (the Fair Housing Act) restricts local measures that would have a discriminatory exclusionary effect. Jacobs advised the council that requiring a home‑occupation permit for such state‑mandated residential care facilities would likely fail judicial review; instead, he recommended clarifying municipal code language to make the exemption explicit and using nonregulatory tools such as brokered good‑neighbor agreements, careful permitting review, and building‑permit enforcement when necessary.

Staff and council agreed to take residents’ concerns seriously. Administrator Betts and planning staff offered to broker neighborhood meetings with prospective operators, to confirm any building‑permit compliance, and to prepare a code amendment that would explicitly clarify exemptions (similar to a child‑care exemption added previously). No ordinance change was adopted at the meeting; staff will return with draft code language and outreach options.