HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/03/2009 03C-2 Citizen Service Request Response RE: Clean and Sober Housing Requirements at 1406 Yakima Ave MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor Edler and Members of the City Council
FROM: Jeff Cutter, City Attorney
Bill Cook, Director of Community and Economic Development
DATE: October 30, 2009
SUBJ: Citizen Complaint Regarding Clean and Sober Housing
1406 W. Yakima Avenue
Complaint
On October 20, 2009 the Yakima City Council received a citizen complaint about a
possible group home in a residence at 1406 West Yakima Avenue. Council directed
staff to investigate the complaint for possible code and zoning violations.
• The Structure " y , : r• . .
The house, constructed in 1908, is . ,.
a 2 -story with full basement v ,•
Georgian Revival style structure 1 t �''
with over 3,000 square feet of floor •
area. The property is zoned R -3 pp�� {{�� ` 14 ➢ Z > - ��� t ' €
Multi- Family Residential. In 1982 , i
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building permits were issued by = the City of Yakima to convert this t a`
home into a tri -plex. � - ` -
Over the last several weeks there
have been some tenant
modifications to the structure to x r;
remove non - weight bearing walls ,„QAaG •
and convert the structure back to a single family home. It is the intent of the lessee
to rent the house as a single family residence. The property owner purchased the
site in August of 2009 with a current lease to Oxford House. The renovation project
was apparently underway at the time of the property transaction. The property
owner has not yet agreed to the plan to convert this house back to a single family
residence and is in discussion with the tenant.
Code Enforcement staff inspected the property on October 26, 2009. From the
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inspection, the city determined that the work preformed to date did not require a
building permit and was not in violation of Uniform Building Code, Uniform Fire
Code or Uniform House Code. However, if approved by the property owner, staff will
issue a Zoning Certificate that indicates the structure has been modified from a 3-
unit building to a single family home. Several additional smoke detectors are
required and a building permit is required for the installation of an egress window
for one of the basement rooms to use as a bedroom.
Use of Structure by the Residents
The house at 1406 is rented by Oxford Houses of Washington State, as a single
family home for up to 8 women in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction as a
residential facility. In summary, based on a US Supreme Court decision, the City of
Yakima must treat this group as a family. Attached is a legal brief from the City
Attorney that describes the Court Decision.
The Oxford House website has information about the court case and their program.
http: / /www.oxfordhouse.org /userfiles /file
•
i
MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor Edler and Members of the City Council
FROM: Jeff Cutter, City Attorney
DATE: October 29, 2009
SUBJ: Clean and Sober Housing
The legal department has been asked to provide a legal analysis for the determination of where Clean
and Sober housing may be located within the City of Yakima, what regulations apply to the location
and occupancy of those houses, and what restrictions the City is under with regard to regulating these
residential uses. The United States Supreme Court provides the answers to these questions in a case
that arose right here in Washington, specifically in the City of Edmonds.
In City of Edmonds v. Oxford House, Inc.,_ et al., 514 U.S. 725, 115 S.Ct. 1776, 131 L.Ed.2d 801
(1995), THE Court considered a matter where the City of Edmonds was attempting to cite the Oxford
• House for zoning violations in the City's single- family residential zone. The citations were based upon
the Oxford House's operation of a clean and sober facility that was housing 10 -12 individuals
recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction. The citations stated that the occupancy of the Clean
and Sober house violated the City's code defining "family ". Oxford House challenged the citations
based upon the Federal Fair Housing Act, ultimately ending up with the case before the United States
Supreme Court, a place they had been before. The following is a brief summary of the results of the
Supreme Court's determination in that case. These determinations have not been reversed, and are
therefore still the law as it applies to these considerations today.
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in housing against, inter alias', persons with
handicaps. The Supreme Court noted that the FHA recognizes those individuals recovering from
alcoholism and drug addiction as "handicapped ". Section 807(b)(1) of the Act entirely exempts from
the Act's affect "any reasonable local, State, or Federal restrictions regarding the maximum number of
occupants permitted to occupy a dwelling." In accord with that, it must be understood that any
occupancy limitation that might be applied against a Clean and Sober facility must also be fully and
equally applied to any other similar residential use.
The Court has further specifically held that family - defining limitations such as are set forth in the
Yakima Municipal Code at section 15.02.020 under "family ", are not acceptable exemptions from the
protections of the FHA restrictions on regulating occupancy for handicapped individuals. In other
words, definitions of family that establish the number of unrelated individuals living together may not
be used to limit the number of residents that may inhabit a Clean and Sober residence. What are
permitted as an exemption from the Act's scope are total occupancy limits, or numerical ceilings that
serve to prevent overcrowding in living quarters. The City of Yakima utilizes the standards set forth in
the building code to reach this sort of maximum occupancy determination.
What is also explained by the Court in the Oxford House case is that under the FHA, discrimination
includes "a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when
such accommodations may be necessary to afford [handicapped] person[s] equal opportunity to use
and enjoy a dwelling." In the Edmonds case, the Court held that Edmonds improperly applied a
"family" standard to limit occupancy of the Oxford House, and therefore failed to make a reasonable
accommodation for the residents of the home.
In its analysis, the Court noted a Washington law enacted in 1993 that states "no city may enact or
maintain an ordinance, development regulation, zoning regulation or official control, policy, or
administrative practice which treats a residential structure - occupied by persons with handicaps
differently than a similar residential structure occupied by a family or other unrelated individuals."
It is important to acknowledge that the Court clearly recognized the importance of a City preserving
the character of neighborhoods used for single - family residences, and that it was imperative to define
"family" in order to make such character preservation possible. However, the Court was also very
clear to point out that while using a family definition to define a characteristic of a residential area was
acceptable, such a definition was not intended to be substituted for a reasonable determination of
occupancy. The Court stated that maximum occupancy restrictions must be determined on the basis of
the number of occupants per dwelling, typically with regard to available floor space (square footage),
not familial make -up. It went on to observe that "[r]easonable limitations by governments would be
allowed to continue, as long as they were applied to all occupants, and did not operate to discriminate III
on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap or familial status."
The bottom line from this decision is that Clean and Sober houses shall be treated just as if they were
your residence or mine, and that any additional burden placed on them that is not otherwise placed
upon any other residence would not comport with the spirit of the FHA.
r 2
OXFORD HOUSES OF ASH1NOTON STATE
OUTREACH SERVICES
October 29, 2009
To The City of Yakima,
This is in regards to the house located at 1406 W Yakima Ave., Yakima, WA. The home is a single
family residence, where 8 women live. All of the women are in recovery. The house has been chartered
for no more than 8 women; up to 3 children can also live there.
There are no house managers, or counselors on site. The women live as a family together. I am the
Washington State Outreach worker for Oxford House, Inc. I can be contacted for ANY reason to
resolve ANY issues.
Thank You,
Stacie Anderson
•
koR •o , « phone (509) 619-3734.-;'
4110 ° - • ` PO Box 7076 E mail
r �� Kennewick,WA ,' ` " stacewitlgrace @hotmail
Web site
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Cook, Bill
From: David McFadden [davemc1061 @gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 7:52 AM
To: Cook, Bill
Subject: 1406 W. Yakima code compliance issues
Hi Bill: •
I appreciate your staff keeping me informed about complaints and code compliance issues regarding my
tenants at 1406 West Yakima Avenue. As I mentioned previously, we bought the house on August 4th
and the lease with the Oxford House was signed by the previous landlord on June 23rd. The previous
owner, Diane Vance, made the modifications to the house that required permits.
I am contacting my realtor at this point to talk with Diane Vance or her agent about applying for and
paying for these permits. This seems fair and it is consistent with how our issue with an unpaid garbage
bill was dealt with last month.
In terms of getting the current tenants to comply with zoning and building codes I also appreciate the
City's support. I have been quite clear with the Oxford House in terms of complying with the City's
code issues. Upon receipt of the City's October letter to Oxford House, I called and wrote the Oxford
House's regional manager and asked for them to comply with the City codes immediately. I shared this
correspondence with Joan Davenport so you should have it on file.
Upon your request yesterday I called the regional manager and told her to cooperate with the City in
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terms of scheduling and completing an inspection of the house. I will continue to respond to the City's
requests for assistance on this matter and will also reinforce lease and legal obligations with my tenants.
Monique and I bought this house as an investment and had no idea that permits were not filed by the
previous owner to convert the house from a triplex to a single family residence. We also had no idea
that the Oxford House's operations would trigger code issues with the City. We want to be good .
landlords and have a property that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. Please keep us
informed about ongoing discussions with the Oxford House and let us know if we need to do anything
vis a vis the City or our tenants to move code issues towards resolution.
David McFadden
•
10/27/2009
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
l~ t '
■ Planning Division
g •.. ' r : '; 129 North Second Street, 2nd Floor Yakima, Washington 98901
%0 ' ' ` (509) 575 -6183 • Fax (509) 575 -6105
'I, y . . b a ' " : www.buildingyakima.com • www.ci.yakima.wa.us /services /planningl
October 21, 2009
Myra Abraham, President
Oxford House
1406 W. Yakima Ave
Yakima, WA 98902
Subject: 1406 West Yakima Avenue
Dear Ms. Abraham,
This letter is to notify you that the City of Yakima has received citizen complaints
regarding the residential structure at 1406 West Yakima Avenue. In response to these
complaints, City Code Inspector(s) conducted a cursory review of the building and
identified two issues of concern.
1. There has been a change in use of the structure. A Group Home of 8 individuals
requires Class 2 Review in the R -3 Zoning District. A Business License is
required for the Group Home.
110 2. Some structural alterations have occurred to the house without a Building Permit.
A building inspection is required to determine if the changes made conform with
the applicable Building and Fire Codes.
Please contact the City of Yakima Code Administration Division (575 -6121) regarding
the Building Code issues and the City Planning Division (575 -6183) regarding the
Zoning Review as soon as possible.
7
Sincerely,
(.4
n Davenport
Planning Manager
Copy: Bill Cook, Director of Community and Economic Development
Dave McFadden, property owner
Gino Pugliese, Regional Manager Oxford House
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Yakima
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