HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance #4216 ORDINANCE NO. 4216
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
AMENDING CHAPTER 230 OF THE HUNTINGTON BEACH ZONING AND
SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE TITLED SITE STANDARDS
(ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT NO. 19-005)
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH MAKES THE
FOLLOWING FINDINGS WITH RESPECT TO THE ADOPTION OF THIS ORDINANCE:
WHEREAS, under the California Constitution, Article XI, Section 7, the City has been granted
broad police powers to preserve the residential characteristics of its RL, RHM, RH and RMP
residential zones; and the residential portion of its Specific Plans, which powers have been
recognized by both the California Supreme Court and United States Supreme Court, the latter of
which has stated that, "It is within the power of the legislature to determine that the community
should be beautiful as well as healthy, spacious as well as clean, well-balanced as well as
carefully patrolled"; and
The Federal Fair Housing Act ("FHA") and the California Fair Employment Housing Act
("FEHA") prohibit enforcement of business regulation facially or effectively discriminate against
equal housing opportunities for the disabled; and
A core purpose of the FHA and FEHA is to provide a broader range of housing opportunities to
the disabled; to free the disabled, to the extent possible, from institutional style living; and to
ensure that disabled persons may live in a similar fashion as non-disabled persons live in
residential neighborhoods; and
To fulfill this purpose, the FHA and FEHA also require that the City provide reasonable
accommodations to its zoning ordinances if such accommodation is necessary to afford a
disabled person an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling; and
Any facility which provides non-medical alcoholism or drug abuse recovery, treatment, or
detoxification services must obtain a license from the California Department of Alcohol and
Drug Programs ("ADP"). Health & Safety Code section 11834.30 provides that no person"shall
operate, establish, manage, conduct, or maintain an alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or
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treatment facility to provide recovery, treatment, or detoxification services"with the State
without first obtaining an ADP license; and
State law has preempted local regulation of ADP-licensed facilities, and requires that all
California cities must permit in all residential zones pursuant to ADP-licensed facilities with six
or fewer residents pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 11834.20 and 11834.23; and
A Group Home is residential facility that is being used as a supportive living environment for
persons who are considered disabled under State or Federal law. Persons recovering from drug
and/or alcohol addiction are considered disabled for the purposes of the FEHA and the Federal
Americans with Disabilities Act("ADA"); and
A Sober Living Home is a Group Home for persons who are recovering from a drug and/or
alcohol addiction and who are considered handicapped under FEHA or ADA; and
The City of Huntington Beach has seen a sharp increase in the number of Sober Living Homes,
which has generated secondary impacts including, but not limited to neighborhood parking
shortfalls, overcrowding, inordinate amounts of second-hand smoke, and noise; and the
clustering of Sober Living Homes in close proximity to each other creating near neighborhoods
of Sober Living Homes; and
As of May 2020, the City has identified approximately 177 Sober Living Homes and residential
care facilities in the multi-family and single-family residential zones; and
The number of Sober Living Homes in the City of Huntington Beach is rapidly increasing,
leading to an overconcentration of Sober Living Homes in certain of the City's residential
neighborhoods, which is both deleterious to the residential character of these neighborhoods and
may also lead to the institutionalization of such neighborhoods; and
The purpose of Sober Living Homes is to provide a comfortable living environment for persons
with drug or alcohol addictions in which they remain clean and sober and can participate in a
recovery program in a residential, community environment, and so that they have the opportunity
to reside in the residential neighborhood of their choice; and
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In enacting this Ordinance, the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach is attempting to
strike a balance between the City's and residents' interests of preserving the characteristics of
residential neighborhoods and to provide opportunities for the disabled to reside in such
neighborhoods that are enjoyed by the non-disabled; and
Because of their extremely transient populations, above-normal numbers of individuals/adults
residing in a single dwelling and the lack of regulations, Sober Living Homes present problems
not typically associated with more traditional residential uses, including but not limited to: the
housing of large numbers of unrelated adults who may or may not be supervised;
disproportionate numbers of cars associated with a single housing unit, which causes
disproportionate traffic and utilization of on-street parking; excessive noise and outdoor
smoking, which interferes with the use and enjoyment of neighbors' use of their property;
neighbors who have little to no idea who does and does not reside in the home; little to no
participation in community activities that form and strengthen neighborhood cohesion;
disproportional impacts from the average dwelling unit to nearly all public services including
sewer, water, parks, libraries, transportation infrastructure, fire and police; a history of
congregating in the same general area; and the potential influx of individuals with a criminal
record; and
Housing inordinately large numbers of unrelated adults in a single dwelling or congregating
Sober Living Homes in close proximity to each other does not provide the disabled with an
opportunity to "live in normal residential surroundings," but rather places them into living
environments bearing more in common with the types of institutional dormitory living that the
FEHA and FHA were designed to avoid for the disabled, and which no reasonable person could
contend provides a normal residential surrounding; and
Notwithstanding the above, the City Council recognizes that while not in character with
residential neighborhoods, responsibly operated Sober Living Homes, and Group Homes,
including Sober Living Homes, benefit society by providing the disabled the opportunity to live
in residential neighborhoods, recovery programs for individuals attempting to overcome their
drug and alcohol addictions, and providing Sober Living Homes greater access to residential
zones; and
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Without regulation there is no means of ensuring that (i) the individuals entering into Sober
Living Homes are disabled individuals and entitled to reasonable accommodation under local
and state law; (ii) the Sober Living Home is operated professionally to minimize impacts to the
surrounding neighborhood; and (iii) the secondary impacts from over concentration of Sober
Living Homes and Group Homes in a neighborhood and large numbers of unrelated adults
residing in a single facility are lessened; and
At least some operators of Sober Living Homes and Group Homes are driven more by profit
rather than intent to provide recovering addicts a realistic potential of sobriety, or a living
environment resembling the manner in which the non-disabled use and enjoy a dwelling; and
The residents of Sober Living Homes and Group Homes come to the City from all parts of the
country and often lack established ties to the community and a local support system independent
of the Sober Living Home or Group Home; and consequently the residents are especially
vulnerable to becoming homeless upon eviction; and
Is the intent of this Ordinance to require that operators of Group and Sober Living Homes
provide the residents information regarding the available local housing resources prior to
eviction from a Sober Living Home or Group Home; and
Pursuant to the California State Planning and Zoning Law, the Huntington Beach Planning
Commission and Huntington Beach City Council have held separate, duly noticed public hearings
to consider Zoning Text Amendment No. 19-005, which amends Chapter 230 of the Huntington
Beach Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance relating to updated, clarified, and site standards utilized
within the ZSO.
After due consideration of the findings and recommendations of the Planning Commission and all
other evidence presented, the City Council finds that the aforesaid amendment is proper and
consistent with the General Plan;
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NOW,THEREFORE,the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach does hereby ordain
as follows:
SECTION 1. That Chapter 230 of the Huntington Beach Zoning and Subdivision
Ordinance titled Site Standards is hereby amended to read as follows:
230.28 Group Homes
A. Purpose.
This chapter is intended to preserve the residential character of single-family residential
neighborhoods and to further the purposes of the FEHA, the FHAA and the Lanterman Act by,
among other things: (1) ensuring that group homes are actually entitled to the special
accommodation and/or additional accommodation provided under the Huntington Beach
Municipal Code and not simply skirting the city's boarding house regulations; (2) limiting the
secondary impacts of group homes by reducing noise and traffic, preserving safety and providing
adequate on street parking; (3) providing an accommodation for the disabled that is reasonable
and actually bears some resemblance to the opportunities afforded non-disabled individuals to
use and enjoy a dwelling unit in a single-family neighborhood; and (4) to provide comfortable
living environments that will enhance the opportunity for the disabled and for recovering addicts
to be successful in their programs.
B. Special Use Permit Required.
1. A group home that may otherwise be considered an unpermitted use may locate in the
RL, RM, RMH, RH, RMP, a Specific Plan Residential, or a Specific Plan Mixed Use zone
with a Special Use Permit provided:
a. An application for a group home is submitted to the director by the owner/operator
of the group home. The application shall provide the following:
i The name, address, phone number and driver's license number of the
owner/operator;
ii. If the applicant and/or operator is a partnership, corporation, firm or
association, then the applicant/operator shall provide the additional names and
addresses as follows and such persons shall also sign the application:
(1). Every general partner of the partnership,
(2). Every owner with a controlling interest in the corporation,
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(3). The person designated by the officers of a corporation as set forth in a
resolution of the corporation that is to be designated as the permit holder;
iii. The license and permit history of the applicant(s), including whether such
applicant(s), in previously operating a similar use in this or another city, county or
state under license and/or permit, has had such license and/or permit revoked or
suspended, and the reason therefor;
iv. The name, address, phone number and driver's license number of the house
manager;
v. A copy of the group home rules and regulations;
vi. Written intake procedures;
vii. The relapse policy;
viii. An affirmation by the owner/operator that only residents (other than the
house manager) who are disabled as defined by state and federal law shall reside
at the group home;
ix. Blank copies of all forms that all residents and potential residents are
required to complete; and
x. A fee for the cost of processing of the application as set by resolution of the
city council.
No person shall open a group home or begin employment with a group home until
this information has been provided and such persons shall be responsible for
updating any of this information to keep it current.
b. The group home has six (6) or fewer occupants, not counting a house manager, but
in no event shall have more than seven (7) occupants. If the dwelling unit has a
secondary accessory unit, occupants of both units will be combined to determine
whether or not the limit of six (6) occupants has been exceeded.
c. The group home shall not be located in an accessory secondary unit unless the
primary dwelling unit is used for the same purpose.
d. The group home has a house manager who resides at the group home or any
multiple of persons acting as a house manager who are present at the group home on a
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twenty-four (24) hour basis and who are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the
group home.
e. All garage and driveway spaces associated with the dwelling unit shall, at all
times, be available for the parking of vehicles. Residents and the house manager may
each only store or park a single vehicle at the dwelling unit or on any street within five
hundred (500) feet of the dwelling unit. The vehicle must be operable and currently
used as a primary form of transportation for a resident of the group home.
f. Occupants must not require and operators must not provide "care and supervision"
as those terms are defined by Health and Safety Code section 1503.5 and section
80001(c)(3) of Title 22, California Code of Regulations.
g. Integral group home facilities are not permitted. Applicants shall declare, under
penalty of perjury, that the group home does not operate as an integral use/facility.
h. If the group home operator is not the property owner, written approval from the
property owner to operate a group home at the property.
i. The property must be fully in compliance with all building codes, municipal code
and zoning.
J. At least forty-eight (48) hours prior to an occupant's eviction from or involuntary
termination of residency in a group home, the operator thereof shall:
i. Notify the person designated as the occupant's emergency contact or contact
of record that the occupant will no longer be a resident at the home;
ii. Contact the Orange County Health Care Agency OC Links Referral Line
and/or another entity designated by the City to determine the services available to
the occupant, including, but not limited to, alcohol and drug inpatient and
outpatient treatment;
iii. Notify the City's Homeless Task Force or its successor panel that an
occupant is no longer a resident at the home, and determine the services available
therefrom;
iv. Provide the information obtained from paragraphs ii and iii of this
subsection B.I j. and any other treatment provider or service to the occupant prior
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to his or her release on a form provided by the City and obtain the occupant's
signed acknowledgement thereon;
v. Provided, however, that if the occupant's behavior results in immediate
termination of residency pursuant to rules approved by the City as part of the
special use permit for that facility, the operator shall comply with paragraphs i.
through iv. of this subsection B.I j. as soon as possible.
k. Prior to an occupant's eviction from or involuntary termination of residency in a
group home, the operator thereof shall also:
i. Make available to the occupant transportation to the address listed on the
occupant's driver license, state-issued identification card, or the permanent
address identified in the occupant's application or referral to the group home;
ii. Provided, however, that should the occupant decline transportation to his or
her permanent address or otherwise has no permanent address, then the operator
shall make available to the occupant transportation to another group home or
residential care facility that has agreed to accept the occupant. If the operator
cannot find accommodation, the occupant must continue to house on premises
until such accommodation can be found for the occupant.
1. The group home operator shall maintain records for a period of one year following
eviction from or involuntary termination of residency of an occupant that document
compliance with subsections B.I j. and B.1.k. of this section; provided, however, that
nothing herein shall require an operator of a group home to violate any provision of
state or federal law regarding confidentiality of health care information. The group
home operator may not satisfy the obligations set forth in subsection B.1.k. of this
section by providing remuneration to the occupant for the cost of transportation.
in. All drivers of vehicles picking up or dropping off persons at a group home shall
comply with all applicable provisions of this Code and the Vehicle Code, including,
but not limited to, those provisions regulating licensure and parking, standing and
stopping.
n. In addition to the regulations outlined above, the following shall also apply to sober
living homes:
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i. The sober living home is not located within one thousand (1000) feet, as
measured from the closest property lines, of any other sober living home or a state
licensed alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility.
ii. All occupants, other than the house manager, must be actively participating
in legitimate recovery programs, including, but not limited to, Alcoholics
Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous and the sober living home must maintain
current records of meeting attendance. Under the sober living home's rules and
regulations, refusal to actively participate in such a program shall be cause for
eviction.
iii. The sober living home's rules and regulations must prohibit the use of any
alcohol or any non-prescription drugs at the sober living home or by any
recovering addict either on or off site. The sober living home must also have a
written policy regarding the possession, use and storage of prescription
medications. The facility cannot dispense medications but must make them
available to the residents. The possession or use of prescription medications is
prohibited except for the person to whom they are prescribed, and in the
amounts/dosages prescribed. These rules and regulations shall be posted on site in
a common area inside the dwelling unit. Any violation of this rule must be cause
for eviction under the sober living home's rules for residency and the violator
cannot be re-admitted for at least ninety (90) days. Any second violation of this
rule shall result in permanent eviction. Alternatively, the sober living home must
have provisions in place to remove the violator from contact with the other
residents until the violation is resolved.
iv. The number of occupants subject to the sex offender registration
requirements of Penal Code section 290 does not exceed the limit set forth
in Penal Code section 3003.5 and does not violate the distance provisions set forth
in Penal Code section 3003.
v. The sober living home shall have a written visitation policy that shall
preclude any visitors who are under the influence of any drug or alcohol.
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vi. The sober living home shall have a good neighbor policy that shall direct
occupants to be considerate of neighbors, including refraining from engaging in
excessively loud, profane or obnoxious behavior that would unduly interfere with
a neighbor's use and enjoyment of their dwelling unit. The good neighbor policy
shall establish a written protocol for the house manager/operator to follow when a
neighbor complaint is received.
vii. The sober living home shall not provide any of the following services as
they are defined by section 10501(a)(6) of Title 9, California Code of
Regulations: detoxification; educational counseling; individual or group
counseling sessions; and treatment or recovery planning.
o. An applicant may seek relief from the strict application of this section by
submitting a reasonable accommodation application setting forth specific reasons as to
why accommodation over and above this section is necessary under state and federal
laws, pursuant to section HBMC 17.77.
2. The special use permit shall be issued by the director as a ministerial matter if the
applicant is in compliance or has agreed to comply with subsections B.La. through B.1.n. of
this section. The issuance of the special use permit shall be denied upon a determination,
and if already issued shall be denied or revoked upon a hearing, by the director that any of
the following circumstances exist:
a. Any owner/operator or staff person has provided materially false or misleading
information on the application or omitted any pertinent information;
b. Any owner/operator or staff person has an employment history in which he or she
was terminated during the past two (2) years because of physical assault, sexual
harassment, embezzlement or theft; falsifying a drug test; and selling or furnishing
illegal drugs or alcohol.
c. Any owner/operator or staff person has been convicted of or pleaded nolo
contendere, within the last seven (7) to ten (10) years, to any of the following offenses:
i. Any sex offense for which the person is required to register as a sex offender
under California Penal Code section 290 (last ten (10) years);
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ii. Arson offenses—Violations of Penal Code Sections 451-455 (last seven
(7) years); or
iii. Violent felonies, as defined in Penal Code section 667.5, which involve
doing bodily harm to another person(last ten (10) years).
iv. The unlawful sale or furnishing of any controlled substances (last seven(7)
years).
d. Any owner/operator or staff person is on parole or formal probation supervision on
the date of the submittal of the application or at any time thereafter.
e. The owner/operator accepts residents, other than a house manager, who are not
disabled as defined by the FHAA and FEHA.
f. A special use permit for a sober living home shall also be denied upon a
determination, and if already issued, any transfer shall be denied or revoked, upon a
hearing,by the director that any of the following additional circumstances exist:
i. Any owner/operator or staff person of a sober living home is a recovering
drug or alcohol abuser and upon the date of application or employment has had
less than one (1) full year of sobriety.
ii. The owner/operator of a sober living home fails to immediately take
measures to remove any resident who uses alcohol or illegally uses prescription or
non-prescription drugs, or who is not actively participating in a legitimate
recovery program from contact with all other sober residents.
iii. The sober living home, as measured by the closest property lines, is located
within one thousand (1000) feet of any other sober living home or state licensed
alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility. If a state-licensed
alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility moves within one
thousand (1000) feet of an existing sober living home this shall not cause the
revocation of the sober living home's permit or be grounds for denying a transfer
of such permit.
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g. For any other significant and/or repeated violations of this section and/or any other
applicable laws and/or regulations, including, but not limited to, failure to comply with
the provisions of subsections B.1.j. through in.
h. Revocation shall not apply to any group home, which otherwise would cause it to
be in violation of this section, that has obtained a reasonable accommodation pursuant
to HBMC 17.77.
C. Compliance
1. Existing Group Homes must apply for a special use permit within ninety (90) days of
the effective date of this chapter.
2. Group Homes that are in existence upon the effective date of this chapter shall have
one (1) year from the effective date of this chapter to comply with its provisions,
provided that any existing Group Home, which is serving more than six (6) residents,
must first comply with the six-resident maximum.
3. Existing Group Homes obligated by a written lease exceeding one (1) year from the
effective date of the ordinance, or whose activity involves investment of money in
leasehold or improvements such that a longer period is necessary to prevent undue
financial hardship, are eligible for up to one (1) additional years grace period pursuant to
Planning Division approval.
D. Transfer of Special Use Permit
1. A Special Use Permit may not be transferred to any other person or entity. No Special
Use Permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall be transferred or assigned or authorize
any person other than the person or entity named in the permit to operate the group home
named therein.
E. A Conditional Use Permit shall be required for and may be granted to allow the operation of a
Group Home, or a Residential Care Facility with seven (7) or more occupants in the RM, RMH,
RH, RMP, Specific Plan Residential and Specific Plan Mixed Use Zones subject to the following
conditions:
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1. As measured from the property line to property line, the Group Home or Sober Living
Home shall be at least one thousand (1000) feet from any other property that contains a
Group Home, Sober Living Home, or State-Licensed Residential Care Facility.
2. An application for an Operator's Permit that complies with Chapter 5.110 of the
Huntington Beach Municipal Code (HBMC) shall be required for and may be granted to
permit the operation of a Group Home or Sober Living Home.
SECTION 2. All other provisions of Chapter 230 not modified herein shall remain in full
force and effect.
SECTION 3.This ordinance shall become effective immediately 30 days after its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach at a
regular meeting thereof held on the 20thday of July 52020.
M r
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Clerk City Attorney
VI t A AP ;D: INITIATED AN APr^77
P VED:
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City Manager Community Development Director
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Ord. No. 4216
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss:
CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH )
I, ROBIN ESTANISLAU,the duly elected, qualified City Clerk of the
City of Huntington Beach, and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of said City, do
hereby certify that the whole number of members of the City Council of the City of
Huntington Beach is seven; that the foregoing ordinance was read to said City Council at
a Regular meeting thereof held on July 7, 2020,and was again read to said City Council
at a Regular meeting thereof held on July 20,2020, and was passed and adopted by the
affirmative vote of at least a majority of all the members of said City Council.
AYES: Posey, Delgleize, Hardy, Semeta, Peterson, Carr, Brenden
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
I,Robin Estanislau,CITY CLERK of the City of Huntington
Beach and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council,do hereby
certify that a synopsis of this ordinance has been published in
the Huntington Beach Wave on July 30,2020.
In accordance with the City Charter of said City.
Robin Estanislau Ci1y Clerk City Clerk and ex-officio Clerk
Deputy City Clerk of the City Council of the City
of Huntington Beach, California