On June 5, 2018, the Town Council directed the Town Attorney to explore amendments to the Town Code that would articulate a procedure to adequately provide for community homes in residential districts. Examination of the code yielded insufficient language regarding the protection of disabled individuals residing in community homes, as well as minimum housing standards for all residential properties. While the Fair Housing Act as amended (42 U.S.C. §3601) and American with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. ch. 126 § 12101 et seq) provide protections for persons with disabilities and prohibit housing discrimination of disabled individuals, it is important that the Town's Land Use Code reflect these protections and, at the same time, ensure that appropriate provisions exist to ensure that disabled individuals can benefit from residence and rehabilitation in community residences that function as families, in order to achieve normalization and community integration. A close examination of the Code found four deficiencies that needed to be addressed. The first related to a lack of language requiring certification or licensing of community residences by the appropriate agencies. The second related to lack of reasonable minimum housing standards, that can prevent overcrowding of residences. The third deficiency was the provisions did not provide for minimum distance separation between community residences to prevent clustering. And third, the LDC lacked provision for reasonable accommodations as well as conditional use standards for the successful establishment of community homes in residential neighborhoods. Language requiring registration of Community Residences was added as well, in order to ensure that the town can establish whether all previously mentioned requirements are satisfactorily met.

On October 2, 2018 the Town Council moved this item on first reading.

On October 4, 2018 the Planning and Zoning Board, acting in their capacity as the Local Planning Agency, heard the item and recommended approval with suggestions regarding stronger violation provisions and greater distance separation requirements.