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Arapahoe County planners propose clearer rules for group homes, citing Fair Housing protections
Summary
County planners presented a land development code amendment that separates federally protected 'group homes' from other group residential facilities, aligns occupancy limits with the International Property Maintenance Code and clarifies when uses must go to a hearing. Commissioners questioned where such homes may locate and how HOAs are affected.
Arapahoe County planning staff on Aug. 4 presented a proposed land development code amendment intended to clarify how the county treats group homes and other group residential facilities.
"What's before you is a code amendment tonight for group living," said Molly Orkel Larson, principal planner with the Public Works Department, explaining staff want to refine a vague distinction the county currently labels as Type A and Type B group homes. Larson said the change would align local definitions with the Fair Housing Amendments Act and apply portions of the International Property Maintenance Code so occupancy limits are enforceable at the county level.
Larson told commissioners the draft divides group living into two categories: "group homes" — structures occupied by people with physical or developmental disabilities who have the right to live together and therefore are protected under federal fair housing law — and broader "group residential facilities," which cover other residential group uses that are not federally protected and can be subject to use-by-special-review procedures.
A staff member, Donna, summarized the legal constraint driving the change: "The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 basically says a group home for persons with mental or physical disabilities has to be allowed anywhere that a family...is allowed and on the same conditions that you would allow a home for me and my family." She told the commission that under federal and Colorado law, an otherwise lawful single-family residential allowance cannot be circumvented by imposing extra hearings or conditions on a federally protected group home.
The draft would also reference the International Property Maintenance Code to set occupancy maxima and minimum square footage per room, Larson said, enabling the county to enforce occupancy limits without adopting the entire maintenance code.
Larson said staff circulated the draft to county health departments and mental-health providers; she reported Aurora Mental Health provided comments about allowable length of stay and the draft was adjusted to avoid conflicts with state licensing. She also outlined the adoption timeline: a fall study session before the Board of County Commissioners, followed by public hearings in the fall or winter.
Commissioners sought clarity about where group homes would be allowed and whether homeowners associations could block them. Larson noted the use table in the draft proposes group homes as a permitted use in residential zone districts and some business districts — meaning they would be allowed where single-family homes are allowed. Donna reiterated that HOAs cannot lawfully prohibit a group home that is protected under federal Fair Housing law or Colorado court decisions.
The commission did not take a substantive vote on the code amendment at the Aug. 4 study session; staff said they expect additional study sessions and public hearings later in the year.
