Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMARTIN LUTHER GROUP HOME - 24-87 - - RECOMMENDATION/REPORT W/ATTACHMENTSITEM NO. 13 PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD MEETING OF June 22, 1987 STAFF REPORT PROJECT: Martin Luther Group Home - 2100 Eastwood Drive - #24-87 APPLICANT: Dr. Sharon Jacksi OWNER: Martin Luther Home Martin Luther Home 2629 Redwing Rd. #325 Fort Collins, CO. 80525 Fort Collins, CO. 80525 PROTECT PLANNER: Debbie deBesche PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Request for a group home for four developmentally disabled residents, located at 2100 Eastwood Drive, zoned R-L-P, Low Den- sity Planned Residential. RECOMMENDATION: Approval with conditions EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This is a request for a group home for four developmen- tally disabled residents, plus staff, in the R-L-P, low density planned residential zone district. The City's Zoning Ordinance provides three requirements for the review of group homes: 1) That the home be licensed or approved by a governmental agency; 2) That the size, scale and overall appearance of the group home be consistent with the general character of the neighborhood, and; 3)That the group home not be generally located closer than 1/3 mile from any other group home unless separated by a "phys- ical barrier". The proposed group home will consist of four developmentally disabled resi- dents, and will be staffed in shifts with two staff people available during the day and one staff person awake in the house at night. The staff members will be supervised by a House Manager and the Martin Luther Home Administrator. It is staff's findings that the proposed group home will be consistent in size, scale and overall appearance with the neighborhood. In addition, the home will be licensed by an appropriate governmental agency, and is located greater than 1/3 mile from another group home. The request satisfies the three criteria for the review of group homes, therefore Staff is recommend- ing approval with conditions. OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT 300 LaPorte Ave. • P.O. Box 580 • Fort Collins, Colorado 80522 • (303) 221-6750 SERVICES, PLANNING DEPARTMENT Martin Luther Group Home - 2100 Eastwood Drive - #24-87 June 22, 1987 P & Z Meeting Page 2 COMMENTS: 1. Background. The surrounding zoning and land uses are as follows: N: R-P; Apartments/condos under construction (Parkwood East PUD) S: R-L-P; Single family dwellings under construction (Parkwood Estates PUD) E: R-L-P; Single family dwellings under construction (Packwood Estates PUD) W: R-L-P; Apartments/condos under construction (Parkwood East PUD) In 1981, the City adopted group home regulations which sought to provide for the placement of a variety of group homes as well as establish reason- able requirements with respect to the licensing, separation of group homes, and impact on the neighborhood. The special review procedures do not require a rezoning. Rather, group homes are considered a legitimate use in the zone, subject to satisfying the applicable review criteria and approval process. The applicant is requesting a group home for developmentally disabled individuals. A Developmentally disability means a disability that is manifested before the person reaches 22 years of age; constitutes a sub- stantial handicap to the affected individual; and is attributable to men- tal retardation or related conditions which include cerebral palsy, epi- lepsy, autism or other neurological conditions when such conditions result in impairment of general intellectual functioning or adaptive behavior similar to that of mentally retarded persons. The City's ordinances provides three requirements for group homes in the R-L-P, low density planned residential zoning district as follows: 1. That the group home be licensed or approved by a governmental agency; 2. That the size, scale and overall appearance of group homes be consis- tent with the general character of the neighborhood in which it is located; and 3. That the group home not be generally located closer than 1/3 mile from any other group home "unless a physical barrier, such as an arterial street or highway, railroad tracks, waterway, commercial district, topographical change or other characteristic, would avoid the concen- tration of group homes". The Planning and Zoning Board has final approval for granting group homes. The Board may place conditions on the approval of the group home including but not limited to number and type of residents, parking, and conditions relating to future alterations to the structure itself. The approval of a group home normally is passed with the property. However, the Board may place a condition limiting the approval of the use to the applicant and/or Martin Luther Group Home - 2100 Eastwood Drive - #24-87 June 22, 1987 P & Z Meeting Page 3 service provider. Any change from these conditions would require that the applicant resubmit to the Planning and Zoning Board. The decision of the Planning and Zoning Board may be appealed to the City Council. In reviewing requests for group homes, the City must look only at the ques- tion of whether the group home would comply with the codes of the City. Many subdivisions are also subject to private covenants which may deal with the issue of whether a group home is permissible, or if permissible, how it may be operated. The City should not become involved in the question of whether private covenants have been complied with or not. 2. Review Criteria The City Code provides three requirements for the review of group homes as follows: 1. The home be licensed or approved by a Governmental Agency. Response: Dr. Sharon Jacksi, the applicant, has stated that the facility will be licensed through the Colorado Division of Developmental Disabili- ties and the Colorado Department of Health as a Specialized Intensive Development Home and will meet all requirements of these licensing authori- ties, i.e. fire safety, sanitation, environmental, and program require- ments. The City will require that the license be received prior to issuance of occupancy permits for the group home use. 2. The size, scale and overall appearance of the group home be consistent with the general character of the neighborhood. Response: The architectural elevation plans for the home are similar in character of other single family dwellings in the area. The residents will not be allowed to drive or store automobiles on the property. The traffic generated and parking requirements from the development will be typical of a single family residence. 3. That the group home not be generally located closer than 1/3 mile to another group home "unless a physical barrier, such as an arterial street or highway, railroad tracks, waterway, commercial district, topographical change or other characteristic, would avoid concentration of group homes". Response: The proposed group home is located greater than 1/3 mile from any other group home. The nearest group home is located over one mile from this proposed site. 3. Neighborhood Meeting On Monday, May 4, 1987 at Riffenburg Elementary School, the Staff held a neighborhood meeting on the proposed group home. A list of issues raised at that meeting is attached. Martin Luther Group Home - 2100 Eastwood Drive - #24-8 June 22, 1987 P & Z Meeting Page 4 STAFF RECOMMENDATION The proposed group home satisfies the requirements of the City Code relat- ing to Group Homes in that it will be licensed by a governmental agency (Colorado Department of Public Health) and the size, scale and overall appearance will be consistent with the general character of the neighbor- hood. The proposed Group Home is located greater than a third mile from any other Group Home. Staff recommends approval of this request for Martin Luther Group Home with the following conditions: a. The home is limited to four (4) developmentally disabled individu- als. b. Maximum of two (2) staff persons working in the home at any one time. c. Developmentally disabled residents would not be allowed to drive nor store automobiles on the property. d. The home will be restricted to the elevation plans submitted and once the home is built there will be no exterior changes, other than minor facial changes (new awning, correct a porch defect, etc). There will be no signage for the group home. e. The approval of the group home shall not be transferable to succes- sors in interest to the described property and shall terminate auto- matically upon conveyance or lease of the property to others. f. The yard and landscaping shall be maintained in an orderly manner. am-mlimini :I=: v c'- 27 l0 Co (�`3 9� 7 �ti t `2 L2 NI a0. Q` M »• (T� 12 • 5� MALe NIT2 Sia. U[. . . . . . . S SNlu.c S/it nwserlic alalNc < El ID IrAlm--mL a LEFT ELEV 6ACK F-E.VATIOM u R-IGMT ELEV. ASPHALT SHINGL.FS 5/12 12 12Y16 CMwBLL VENt B Li.P SIDIN4 12 �5 • �V ORD ♦YAT' LIDIAIG a )Cla T/.�M Eta. SRICK VENEE0. I%10 TAM IIRD � �� 3-l.x is qs'f 4- SUpp.RT4 FKO)QT ELEVATION LV ERITT HONES R-1b44 wow sH ..• T18_ o FEB B7 wD FlE Vf,T IONS • al~O F•y WE FAMILY RM. FIREPLkCE D I w-vzvt w-3.Ie w y2y2 AWE le' D4¢D FAMIL'( RM. o� � a- Is i-31. CABIN£'[ DETAIL 3/8'• 1=C Sao a-xv rcrr,ccx c¢a1� :r'ow PLA. l I ,0-,oz IZ_? h- C!{3 tI JMWdB M]8od S'W 1SNca 3Nvs aaa_.,h Lw -- ---, eac u� aw Oh Oh i � ll rr pl� G LLLLLL '1 �Qd Z,' d LLy O YO Y N Q � 11 '% I cow- STEP 4 C'Nr 5LAa WI I..Y Ia,.-W.M � - StOrt- •4 BRFAYa7T REMI AT Ii O.C. It; �- A 4-0 PORCN DETAIL SCALE 1121 1=0" VENTED ATTIC LNG IWWAS AT 21I*0C- '23S ASPNALT SNINGLLS OVER IS' FELT 112 cox PLYWOOD — R-32 BLOWNINSULATION TRu15 ANCHOR IxB FACIAL / 319 MASowrii, DBL TOP PLATE Iw GYp BRD rbow 2 x 4 STUD WALL AT I1; O C SIDING AS SPEC ED R-13 INSULATION 4 MIL POLY 3/4T.G PLVW000 PRO I. -OLD DOWN . NAI LED STRAPS.WIND BRILI 0 FLe ,JOIST [I;A- It,; 0 C REDWOOD 5I11 D 1/J!x 10 ANC NOR BOLT qED .II BAIT INS j V MIL POU —� OATION WALL 951IG FTG DAMP PROOFING rjECT10N FOR CRAWL SPACEE IIr E(P JOINT 4'CONC SLAG W GRAYEL 9- W/ VAPOR 6A2AIER • 4 REBAR $xlle FTO 1 WALL SECTION SCALE 318-I16' 2 S, NOTE REJ5Al TO BE PLALED STAIR PETAILDETAIL 4' FROFI To? . BOTTEFI SCALt '.w-I Kr • SPARK ARRESTOR 2 L ? Rool RIDGE N FIRE BIOC.Y.ING NOTE OUTSIDE COMBUSTION A11L FOR FIREPLACE 12' FLUE 3- UNI% NIG1M ABOVE FIREPI f- --- SUPERIOR I.,. �tK cS vIIDE • O•+ EKM SIDE -- 22• u 2 WITS. DILR COLXiSE F 1EA, FIREPLACE QETT1IL - S-11L 3/67• 1 0 SCLT10N5 AND DETAILS 2628 Redwing Rd., Suite 325, Fort Collins, CO 80526, (303) 223-' Eastwood Group Home Facility Project Description Martin Luther Homes, Inc., a non-profit Christian agency, is developing a group home for four developmentally disabled adolescents aged 12-16 years of age. The objective of the program is to provide these children a normalized living environment while teaching independent living skills. The facility will be licensed through the Colorado Division of Developmental Disabilities and the Colorado Department of Health as a Specialized Intensive Development Home. It will meet all requirements of these licensing authorities, e.g., fire safety, sanitation, environmental, and program require- ments. Funding is received: under the Colorado Medicaid Waiver Program. Local monitoring is done by Foothills Gate- way Rehabilitation Center, the Health Department-add_the Fire Department. The maximum capacity for the house is 4 clients. The proposed home is a three bedroom ranch style house with two baths and a family room in addition to the usual living, kitchen, and dining areas. Part of the basement will be finished for a recreation room, an office, and a bath. The facility will be staffed in shilfts with two staff people available during the day and one staff person awake in the house at night. These staff memoers will be supervised by a House Manager and the MLH administrator for Larimer County. Questions and concerns should be addressed to Sharon Jacksi, Ph.D., Area Administrator for Larimer County. Cnr^i�fw nffir Qp D 0. Rnx 607. Beatrice. NE 68310 - (402.1 223-4066 h-- t.. 4..,. 2629 Redwing Rd., Suite 325, Fort Collins, CO 80526, (303) 223.1751 COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT GROUP HOMES A group home for the developmentally disabled is being planned for your neighborhood by MLH, a non-profit Christian agency. This facility will be located at 2100 Eastwood and will be built by Everitt Homes. When a facility such as this is being developed, neighbors have many questions. The following answers many of the questions you may have: 1. Who will live in the home? Four adolescent -aged children will. be living in the house. They range in age from 12-16 years. They are moderately mentally retarded. They will be learning semi -independent --independent living skills. They enjoy doing most of the same activities that other teens like to do, such as playing ball, going shopping, and watching TV. They will not be driving, so there should be no concern about cars. 2. What kind of supervision is to be provided? At all times when the children are home and awake, there will be two staff working with the children. During sleep time, one awake staff person will 'be doing laundry and maintenance and monitoring the children. There also are medical, nursing, psycholo- gical, therapeutic and dietary consultants who provide service to the clients. Immediate supervision of.the house is done by a house manager who attends to scheduling, staff and upkeep of the house. MLH contracts with a maintenance person to maintain the condition of the house and grounds. 3. What do the residents do all day? The clients are enrolled in various school programs and attend classes as any child does. On weekends and after school, various leisure activities and training are conducted. G. Does a neighborhood group home lower property values? There have been two national studies done by the Northrup Group, one about 12 years ago and one about a year ago. They consistently found that property values in a neighborhood pre- and post- group home remained the same. They also compared different but similar neighbor- hoods, ones with a group home and ones without, and found no differences in value. An interesting side note is that frequently the group home was in better condition than some of the surrounding homes. • 0 2629 Redwing Rd., Suite 325, Fort Collins, CO Bo526, (303) 223-1751 5. Once one group home is in a neighborhood, won't there be an influx of others? There are licensing restrictions on locating group homes closer than 750 a€=*re feet in any direction from an existing home. These are state regulations and community requirements may be more stringent. Also, the concept of clustering handicapped people together is against legislative and philosophical intent. 6. Isn't it better for developmentally disabled people to be institutionalized.' The emphasis, both state and national, is to help developmentally disabled people become integrated into the community. In this state, there is a legislative mandate to drastically reduce the population of the state institutions. In fact, Pueblo is to be closed within a year. Also, besides being normalizing for the developmentally disabled, it is more cost efficient to offer community services than institutional services. Average costs at the institution are $120+ per day while community services range from $20-$90 per day. 7. Won't there be congestion and parking problems around the group home? The house is being planned with a two -car garage and two -car driveway. In general, there will only be two staff cars and one house car at any one time. Staff meetings are held once a month. This is the only time cars would be parked on the street. Care -a -Van or a school bus will pick up the children daily for school and return them at the end of the day. Parents are very involved with their children who are placed in our homes; they often take their children home on weekends. This should represent no congestion, however.. 8. Who do I contact if I have concerns about the house or residents? It is MLY's intent to be a good neighbor in your area and to work out any difficulties that may occur. Please feel free to contact the Area Administrator, Sharon Jacksi, Ph.D. or the Assistant Administrator, Deborah Pahlau at any time. Another primary contact is Sally Montgomery, who will be the house manager for this facility. The office phone number is 223-1751. CITY OF FORT COLLINS OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, PLANNING DEPARTMENT NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING FOR y,- y •IBI• !i>• ' • 1 MEETING PLACE: Riffenburg Elementary School MEETING DATE: May 4, 1987 MEETING TIME: 7:30 - 9:30 QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, OWTTS 1. What are the other Martin Luther Home locations? y✓1. 820 West Mountain 2. 722 Smith 3. 1030 Davidson Drive, Apts K7, K4, C6 (Cimarron Apts) 4. 730 Mathews 5. 801 Knobcone, Horseshoe Lake, Loveland 6. 404 Diamond Drive, Loveland 2. What is the definition of "developmentally disabled" A: These are mentally retarded young adults. 3. Why did Martin Luther Homes decide to locate in a new development? There are still lots for sale and many homes are under construction. A: Martin Luther Homes felt it would be advantageous to be involved with a home at the new construction stage. It is expensive to remodel older homes and meet the building code for window sizes, doorway openings, etc. OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, PLANNING 300 LaPorte Ave. • P.O. Box 580 • Fort Collins, Colorado 80522 • (303) 221.6750 Page 2 • • 4. What will the home appraise for? A: Approximately $90,000. 5. The citizens attending the neighborhood would like to make it very clear that they are convinced that property values will decrease as a result of this home. A: There is no data to support this fear. On the contrary, studies have shown that property values do not decrease but rather appreciate along with the general condition of the neighborhood. References to these studies are in the informational handout. The Martin Luther Home will be inconspicuous and well maintained. 6. The possibility of a group home in Parkwood East was never part of the approved P.U.D. or Master Plan. This makes it difficult to research neigh- borhoods when shopping for a home. This application for a group home license comes as quite a shock for those neighbors who have recently pur- chased and were given no indication by either the City or the builder that a group home could be located in Parkwood East. 7. Will there be any "emotionally disturbed" clients? A: No. 8. Is the group home license transferable to another operator? A: No. The license would be issued to a specific operator. Any trans- fer would be reviewed by the public process. 9. What would be the ages of the clients? A: These children would be adolescents. There is no fixed range, how- ever, and no client would leave upon reaching a certain age. Some clients are expected to grow with the home. There is a possibility that some clients may be transferred to other Martin Luther facili- ties which are set up to serve adults. 10. Why can't the parents of these children keep them at home under the private care of the family? A: The purpose of the group home is to provide a setting where training and skills can be taught to lessen the dependency on the family. The objective is to encourage these children to enter young adulthood with a degree of independent living skills and to become less of a burden on the family in particular and society in general. 11. What are the qualifications of the staff? A: The house managers all have degrees. The staff members have a vari- ety of combinations of education and experience. Page 3 • 9 12. How many staff would there be? A: No less than two at all times. 13. Who would be the house manager? A: Sally Montgomery. 14. What is the procedure if a child gets sick? A: The Staff is trained to handle a variety of medical emergencies. 15. How much freedom will these clients get? A: The clients would be supervised at all times. During the day, the clients are either attending Foothills Gateway Rehabilitation Center or special education programs in the Poudre R-1 School District. 16. Group Homes are more appropriate in older established neighborhoods. They are inappropriate in newer neighborhoods that are not even built -out yet. A: The existing Martin Luther Homes on Smith and Mathews have undergone extensive remodeling. This becomes very expensive. 17. This proposed group home would be more appropriate in Oak Ridge which is also controlled by Everitt and there is no established neighborhood that would be impacted. 18. How much would the children circulate throughout the neighborhood? A: The children would do many of the normal things other children do. There would be picnics in the park, activities in the fenced back- yard, and other activity associated with normal residential living. 19. Is Martin Luther Homes considering other locations? A: This is the only location being considered at this time. 20. There is a concern that the proposed home would not pass a fire inspec- tion. A: All existing M.L. homes now pass fire inspections. 21. There is a concern that lots in Parkwood East that have not been sold yet. These lots represent potential buyers who are not here to object. 22. There is a concern that the clients will escape from the home and cause vandalism in the neighborhood. A fear of breaking windshields and slashing tires was mentioned. Page 4 0 . A: These kids would not be cruel or vicious. Martin Luther Homes has no record of this type of behavior. 23. Would these clients interact with the regular neighborhood kids? A: Very possibly. However, all interaction would be supervised by staff. 24. How does M.L. Homes replace clients lost through attrition? A: Through referrals by the Community Center Board and Foothills Gateway Rehabilitation Center. 25. Could the occupancy ever increase to 5 clients? A: Not without going through the public review process because the license would be restricted to 4. The desire is to limit enrollment to 4 because the house and staff is best equipped to handle 4. 26. Does M.L. Homes keep up the maintenance? A: Yes. Lawn maintenance is contracted out to a professional firm. 27. Would there be a fence in the backyard? A: Yes. 28. The neighborhood would like to go on record as stating their opposition to the proposed group home and would like the M.L. staff to look elsewhere in the community for a location. 29. In conclusion, the neighborhood would like the record to show that a group home in Parkwood East is, psychologically, difficult to accept. PROJECT:K TA L' T H � � � 1�11 i9Si hiad/� TYPE OF MEETING: DATE: NAME ADDRESS WRITTEN NOTIFICATION YES/NO OWNER RENTER ' -72 �� C'1240 - r� t� (,k)ood �vP jf � gos��lls.� L� a� �y v 761) SPE) ,S77) Agar) 7ACXsr Pl•L• SS GK �•�-• QICL T--- "Martin Luther Home is real great because we get to do things on our , own for a change." resident "The most wonderful thing that I think a parent can have is when your child is happy, when you cannot have your child at home." parent "It's a big dream come true! My daughter's responding to the staff like she has never responded before!" parent "It's nice to have someone to talk to. It's nice to have someone to be by. I just really like it when people talk to me and treat me the right way!" resident Martin Luther Home Larimer County, Colorado "We have to be aware that every person has their own unique value; and unless we can serve each one of them in as appropriate manner as possible, that person is never going to be able to use what they have. We will be the losers, those of us who are not handicapped, because we have lost the opportunity to see an individual grow and develop and become as self- sufficient as possible. For that reason alone, we need to do everything we can to make sure that every individual is helped and served in the best way we can!" Martin Luther HOifica* e wnded in 1925 by concerned Christians wh saw the needsfoua home of love for people who were mer and physically From the beginning, the emphasis has b on providing the spiritual, educational, physical, social and vocational services they need. We are now serving 743 people. We have 30 homes and four vocational training centers in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. A*! sing community resources, with in home follow-up by qualified staff, Martin Luther Home provides speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, medical, psychological, social and educational services. Family involvement is encouraged as an integral part of all programs. The goal is to meet individual needs by offering an array of services allowing for the most normalized age -appropriate living arrangement. All homes are located in normal residential neighborhoods. rheY provide a warm, stimulating; supervised environment where each individual i free to be himself and learn in a climate of acceptance, security and understanding Ik,,