(a) Purpose. The city has a legitimate interest in imposing regulations to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare. However, these regulations may not be applied in a manner that denies reasonable accommodation as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. It is the policy of the city to provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities seeking fair and equal access to housing in compliance with federal law. Reasonable accommodation means granting a modification or waiver of city regulations or policies to an individual with a disability, or to a developer of housing for an individual with a disability, when necessary to eliminate barriers to housing opportunities as required by law. The process for making and acting upon requests for reasonable accommodation is set forth in this section.
(b) Initiation. A person may request the modification or waiver of city regulations or policies by submitting a request in writing to the Planning Manager or through the city's reasonable accommodation form for people with disabilities. For the purposes of this section, "person" includes an individual with a disability, his or her representative, or, with respect to housing, a developer or provider of housing for an individual with a disability. The application must include a detailed explanation of why the modification or waiver is reasonably necessary for the person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use or enjoy housing. If the request relates to a matter requiring specific review or approval by the city, then the applicant must file the request for reasonable accommodation concurrently with the application seeking the review or approval. When the data requested by the application seeking review or approval qualifies as protected data under state or federal data laws, the City Manager may waive the concurrent filing of the otherwise required application.
(c) Review. The Planning Manager, in consultation with the City's Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator and City Attorney, has the authority to consider and act on requests for reasonable accommodation, except that requests associated with another city review or approval must be considered and decided prior to approval of a reasonable accommodation. A reasonable accommodation final decision will be made within the time established by M.S. § 15.99, as it may be amended from time to time. A reasonable accommodation decision must be in writing and may include the imposition of reasonable conditions. In making a decision, the following factors must be considered:
(1) Whether there is a qualifying disability;
(2) Whether the request is needed to allow a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling or live in a particular neighborhood, in the same manner as a person without disabilities;
(3) Whether the request is reasonable, considering such things as undue financial impact or unreasonable administrative burden on city resources, the potential impact on surrounding uses, the extent to which the accommodation meets the stated need, and other alternatives that may meet that need;
(4) Whether the request would constitute a fundamental alteration of the city's regulations, policies, or procedures; and
(5) Any other factor that may have a bearing on the request.
(d) Decision. The Planning Manager's written decision, including notice of the right to appeal, must be mailed to the applicant and, if it impacts land use or zoning, to the owners of all properties that immediately abut the property that is the subject of the request and are potentially impacted by the reasonable accommodation as determined by the Issuing Authority. An aggrieved party may appeal the Planning Manager's decision to the City Council by submitting a written appeal request to the Planning Manager within ten days after the decision was mailed to that party. Unless properly appealed, the Planning Manager's decision is the final decision of the city. If appealed, the decision of the City Council is final. Only the aggrieved applicant and property owners who received notice of the written determination have a right to appeal.
(e) Applicability.
(1) An approved request is granted only to an individual and, if related to land use, zoning, or real property, does not run with the land. If the request relates to land use, zoning or use of real property, the Planning Manager has the discretion to determine the accommodation runs with the land when:
(A) The accommodation is physically integrated into the residential structure and cannot easily be removed or altered; or
(B) The accommodation is to be used by another individual with a disability.
(2) In these instances, the Planning Manager may require that the applicant record a covenant agreeing to comply with conditions established in the determination before the issuance of any permits related to an approved reasonable accommodation.
(3) Fees. There will be no fee imposed in connection with a request for reasonable accommodation or an appeal of a decision made pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(Ord. 2024-24, passed 10-14-2024)