HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 3/22/2022 - Memorandum From Paul Sizemore Re: Overview Of The Reasonable Accommodation Process
Community Development & Neighborhood Services
281 North College Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580
970.416.2740
970.224.6134- fax
fcgov.com
Planning, Development & Transportation Services
MEMORANDUM
Date: March 15, 2022
To: Mayor Arndt and City Councilmembers
Thru: Kelly DiMartino, Interim City Manager
Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager
Caryn Champine, Planning Development and Transportation Director
From: Paul Sizemore, Community Development and Neighborhood Services
Director
Re: Overview of the Reasonable Accommodation Process
The purpose of this memo is to provide an overview of and context for the Reasonable
Accommodation process adopted by City Council in 2017, to describe how this process
has been implemented since its inception, and to discuss policy alignment with City
policies and strategic objectives. This information is being provided in response to a
Councilmember request following a reasonable accommodation determination in 2021,
and due to public contacts with Council regarding a group home project currently in the
development review process that includes a reasonable accommodation determination.
Background
This memorandum describes the impetus for the creation of the process, how the
process works, some history and context regarding the application of the process, and
information about alignment with City policies and strategic objectives. This
memorandum does not provide a legal analysis of the basis for the City’s regulations, or
evaluate the legal issues involved with potential modifications to the regulations. The
City Attorney’s office will address these legal considerations separately.
In 2016 the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a joint statement indicating that federal
laws take precedence over any local zoning ordinances that do not provide reasonable
accommodations to protected classes of people, including people with disabilities. The
joint statement clarifies that reasonable accommodation provisions of the federal Fair
Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require the City to
make reasonable accommodations to its zoning regulations when necessary to afford
disabled persons an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing of their choosing on the
same basis as persons without disabilities.
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At the time of the joint statement the City did not have a formal procedure for evaluating
these types of reasonable accommodations and was faced with a request for a
reasonable accommodation without a codified review process. In 2017 the City adopted
its reasonable accommodation process to create a formal procedure to allow people
with disabilities to request the waiver or modification of City zoning laws, policies, or
practices.
Review Process
Land Use Code (LUC) Division 2.19 sets forth the City’s reasonable accommodation
process. Under this process, the Community Development and Neighborhood Services
(CDNS) Director reviews and decides reasonable accommodation requests. The
reasonable accommodation review process is not open to the public for input and the
Code does not require public outreach or a public hearing. The process was purposely
designed to protect the privacy of individuals with disabilities and to avoid the possibility
that discriminatory public comments might influence or be attributed to the decision
maker.
It is important to note that the result of a reasonable accommodation determination is
not based on a common definition of “reasonableness” as it may be perceived by
neighbors or members of the public; rather, the accommodation is determined to be
reasonable if it meets the specific criteria established in the LUC. In order to grant a
reasonable accommodation request, the CDNS Director must find:
The user of the property at issue has a disability.
Granting the request is necessary to make specific housing available to a person
with a disability.
Granting the request would not impose an undue financial or administrative
burden on the City.
Granting the request would not require a fundamental alteration in the n ature of a
land use code provision.
As a matter of practice, when a request is received the CDNS Director assembles a
small group of staff who are subject matter experts in the particular regulation under
consideration, including a representative from the City Attorney’s Office. This group
reviews information submitted by the applicant, asks for additional details or verification
as necessary, and entertains the option to hold an interactive meeting with the
applicant’s representatives to ask questions and collect any additional information
needed to make a decision. The CDNS Director may impose conditions of approval to
ensure the accommodation granted meets the criteria.
At the conclusion of the process, the CDNS Director issues a letter stating the decision
on the request and the basis for that decision according to the LUC criteria. The
applicant for a reasonable accommodation is the only party that may appeal a City
reasonable accommodation decision, and appeals are heard by the City Manager or
their designee.
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History and Context
Since its inception, the CDNS Director has issued a total of 9 reasonable
accommodations, in each of the following years:
2017: 1
2018: 0
2019: 3
2020: 1
2021: 4
As of the writing of this memorandum, no formal challenges have been made to the
City’s reasonable accommodation procedures either in the form of an appeal of a
Director decision or through the filing of a lawsuit related to the LUC provisions . In the
majority of cases, City staff do not receive complaints from neighbors near the recipient
of a reasonable accommodation. In some instances when the accommodation relates to
a facility such as a group home or sober living facility, neighbors will contact staff when
it comes to their attention that a facility is moving into a residential building. In these
cases, neighbors will sometimes express frustration that the reasonable
accommodation process does not include public notification or an opportunity for the
public to comment on the request, influence the process or appeal the decision.
Policy Alignment
In addition to meeting the legal requirements of the FHA and ADA, the City’s reasonable
accommodation process helps to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion goals outlined
in the adopted 2020 Strategic Plan, City Plan and the Housing Strategic Plan. The
following objectives and policies relate to issues of access, equity, and specialized
housing needs that are relevant to the reasonable accommodation process:
Strategic Objective NLSH 1.4: “Advance equity for all, leading with race, so that a
person’s identity or identities is not a predictor of outcomes.”
City Plan Policy LIV 6.1 - BASIC ACCESS: “Support construction of housing
units with practical features that provide access and functionality for people of all
ages and widely varying mobilities.”
City Plan Policy LIV 6.2 - SPECIALIZED HOUSING NEEDS: “Plan for
populations who have specialized housing needs. Integrate residential-care and
treatment facilities, shelters, permanent supportive housing, group homes and
senior housing throughout the GMA in areas that are well served by amenities
and public transportation.”
City Plan Policy LIV 7.1 - ACCEPTANCE, INCLUSION AND RESPECT: “Identify
opportunities to promote acceptance, inclusion and respect for diversity.
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Discourage all forms of discrimination, in addition to the specific characteristics
that are protected by law.”
City Plan Policy LIV 7.4 - EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS: “Include considerations
for equity in decision making processes across the City organization to ensure
that the benefits and/or burdens of City actions or investments are shared fairly
and do not disproportionately affect a particular group or geographic location
over others.”
Housing Strategic Plan Strategy 2: “Promote inclusivity, housing diversity, and
affordability as community values
Community engagement should address structural racism, counter myths
related to affordable housing and density, prioritize storytelling and be
culturally appropriate.”
Housing Strategic Plan Strategy 3: “Implement the 2020 Analysis of Fair Housing
Choice Action Steps
This HUD-required document analyzes fair housing (the intersection of
civil rights and housing) challenges for protected class populations in Fort
Collins.”
The purpose of the reasonable accommodation process is to make housing
choices available to people with disabilities when existing zoning regulations
would otherwise prevent them from living in a particular location.
For example, a person with a mental health related disability may not be able to
live in a single-family house in a neighborhood if zoning regulations prevent
certain types of support from being made available in their home, or a person
with a physical disability may not be able to live in a multifamily apartment
building if zoning regulations would prevent ramps or structures for access to
their home.
These are the types of cases that could be considered for reasonable
accommodations and evaluated against the LUC criteria.
If granted, a reasonable accommodation may allow these individuals to live in the
same neighborhood and with a comparable quality of life to individuals without
these disabilities.
A tension does exist between the legal and ethical imperative to provide equal housing
access to individuals with disabilities and the City’s goals to provide transparent
processes and empower neighbors to resolve problems.
Strategic Objective NLSH 1.5: “Enhance the quality of life in neighborhoods,
empower neighbors to solve problems, and foster respectful relations.”
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For neighbors who find out about a reasonable accommodation process in their
neighborhood after the fact, it can feel like their quality of life is being impacted
without an opportunity to provide input.
This can leave these neighbors feeling disempowered rather than empowered.
In evaluating the potential polarity between these two objectives, an important
consideration is that the FHA, ADA, and the City’s reasonable accommodation
process are all designed to provide greater consideration for those who may be
marginalized or underrepresented in regulatory processes in order to provide
greater equity in outcomes.
Next Steps
If Council desires additional information or to discuss alternatives to the current process,
options might include a work session, executive session, or additional staff
correspondence. Councilmembers can discuss their preference with the City Manager,
who will bring these requests forward to the Leadership Planning Team.
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