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INR advances zoning changes to clarify group‑home categories and expand MA‑1 uses
Summary
Staff proposed splitting the current 'group homes' definition into four categories—group homes, community care facilities, halfway facilities, and inpatient treatment centers—and clarified 'family' to align with the Fair Housing Act; committee approved the ordinance amendments and expanded allowed uses in the MA‑1 district.
Staff presented a package of zoning amendments intended to clarify types of group residential care and to align local code with federal Fair Housing Act definitions. The amendment breaks the previous, broad 'group homes' label into four discrete categories — group homes, community care facilities, halfway facilities, and inpatient drug and alcohol addiction treatment facilities — and assigns specific zoning districts where each use would be allowed. As staff put it in the presentation: "What we're looking at doing is breaking group homes, into 4 clear categories, which would be group homes, community care facilities, halfway facilities, and inpatient drug and alcohol addiction treatment facilities."
The committee moved and approved the amendments; staff also proposed changes to the MA‑1 limited manufacturing/industrial district to allow more neighborhood‑oriented uses (repair services, gyms/fitness, laundromats, certain retail and gas stations) intended to better align MA‑1 with its intended role as a buffer between commercial and industrial zones. The changes are intended to improve clarity for applicants and enforcement and to avoid inadvertently restricting appropriate uses in transitional areas.
