Correctional halfway houses, as defined in Section 325.121, shall be permitted only in accordance with the following regulations and other applicable regulations of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Cleveland.
(a) Purpose. The regulations of this section are intended to provide suitable locations for residential institutions which assist in enabling individuals to live independently, productively and lawfully as members of the larger community, following a period of incarceration or following a conviction for criminal activity. These regulations are also intended to ensure that such institutions are operated in a manner which serves the best interests of their residents, while protecting the safety of residents living in nearby neighborhoods.
(b) Certificate of Occupancy. No correctional halfway house shall be established or expanded before issuance by the Commissioner of Building and Housing of a Certificate of Occupancy. The Commissioner shall issue such Certificate only after approval by the Board of Zoning Appeals, as required in division (c) of this section.
(c) Board of Zoning Appeals Approval. No Certificate of Occupancy for establishment or expansion of a correctional halfway house shall be issued without approval of such application by the Board of Zoning Appeals, after public notice and a public hearing. In order to ensure compatibility between a proposed correctional halfway house, or expansion thereof, and surrounding properties, the Board may require modifications to a proposal as a condition of its approval. The Board shall determine the suitability of a proposed correctional halfway house, or expansion thereof, at a particular location, through consideration of, among others, the following factors.
(1) Conformance of the proposal to the requirements of this section and to other applicable regulations of the City’s Codified Ordinances;
(2) The record of the proposed operator in managing similar facilities; and
(3) The size of the proposed facility as it affects potential over-concentration of a correctional system population in the immediate vicinity.
(d) Permitted Locations. Correctional halfway houses shall be allowed in General Retail Business, Residence-Industry and Semi-Industry zoning districts, in accordance with all applicable regulations.
(1) Separation Standards. No correctional halfway house shall be established on a lot or lots within five hundred (500) feet of a Residential zoning district nor within five hundred (500) feet of the lot or lots occupied by a playground, public park, public recreation center, church or similar place of worship, public library, pre-school, day-care center, kindergarten, special education center, or primary or secondary school, measured in accordance with the standards of division (d)(3) of this section. Specifically, however, along the rear lot line of a property to be occupied by a correctional halfway house, this separation standard may be waived by the Board of Zoning Appeals, if, in the determination of the Board, adequate fencing, buffer areas and/or other barriers are in place or will be put in place to screen and separate the adjoining properties, and to prevent access between the properties.
(2) Spacing Standard. No correctional halfway house shall be established on a lot or lots within two thousand (2,000) feet of a lot or lots occupied by another such facility measured in accordance with the standards of division (d)(3) of this section. Furthermore, not more than two (2) correctional halfway houses shall be located in any Police District.
(3) Measurement Standard. In all instances where this section requires separation or spacing by a specified distance, such distance shall be measured in a geometrically straight line which represents the shortest distance between the lot or lots accommodating the proposed correctional halfway house and the lot or lots or zoning district from which the correctional halfway house is to be separated. Such measurement shall be made using a scaled map, or a survey if deemed necessary, and shall be made without regard to intervening structures, objects, uses, the street grid, landforms, waterways, or any other topographic feature.
(e) Licensing and Supervision. All correctional halfway houses operating in the City of Cleveland shall have all required licenses, including any required for operation of a correctional halfway house. On-site supervision by qualified staff shall be provided for all hours during which residents are on the premises. Security measures shall be sufficient to protect the safety of residents and other citizens in the vicinity of the facility.
(f) Floor Area and Occupancy Standards. A minimum of two hundred (200) square feet of habitable floor area shall be provided, on average, for each resident of a correctional halfway house, including staff members normally on the premises after 11:00 p.m. A maximum of one hundred (100) residents subject to correctional oversight shall be accommodated at any correctional halfway house. No correctional halfway house may operate with a total resident population of less than twenty (20) persons, which twenty (20) persons may include individuals not subject to correctional oversight.
(g) Parking. A minimum of one (1) off-street parking space shall be provided for every three (3) residents of a correctional halfway house, plus one (1) space for each staff person on duty during the largest shift. Such spaces shall be provided either on or directly adjacent to the property occupied by the facility.
(h) Excluded Residents. Correctional halfway houses shall not admit or accommodate residents who, at the time of their admission or at any time during their stay, exhibit a pattern of violent behavior, nor shall correctional halfway houses admit or accommodate residents who have been convicted of any of the following crimes: murder, rape or felony crimes against children.
(i) Revocation of Certificate. The Commissioner of Building and Housing shall revoke the Certificate of Occupancy issued to a correctional halfway house if it is determined that the facility is no longer licensed as required in this section or if compliance with City regulations or with requirements of the Board of Zoning Appeals is not maintained.
(j) Application. An application for a Certificate of Occupancy for a correctional halfway house shall include the following information, in addition to such information and drawings otherwise required under the Codified Ordinances.
(1) The name, address and telephone number of the operator, the agency holding the required State License, and the owner of the property on which the facility is to be established;
(2) The address of the proposed site;
(3) The name of the government agency providing or expected to provide a license to the operator; the term of such license; and the expiration date thereof;
(4) The proposed design capacity of the facility in terms of the number of residents and staff on the largest shift;
(5) Written policies of the operator governing admission to residence in the facility, and rules for residents, including rules for the storing and taking of medicine;
(6) A written affidavit from the operator that all residents will have been determined to be capable of functioning adequately in a community setting and will not constitute a reasonably foreseeable danger to the community;
(7) Client groups to be served by type, age, range, level of functioning or rehabilitation, nature of past institutionalization or incarceration, present status in treatment and in the correctional system (e.g., with respect to furlough, parole or probation status);
(8) Description of supervision and security arrangements, and a description of arrangements for maintenance of the facility and the grounds;
(9) Description of services to be provided to residents in on-site and off-site locations;
(10) Addresses of all similar facilities currently or previously operated by the proposed operator and the licensing agency;
(11) Plans and statements of all exterior and interior building alterations proposed to accommodate the facility;
(12) Number, size, location and surfacing of all off-street parking spaces, and a statement of the operator’s policy on keeping of cars by residents;
(13) Any other information deemed necessary by the Commissioner of Building and Housing to determine compliance with the provisions of this section and other applicable provisions of these Codified Ordinances.
(k) Notification. Upon receipt of an application for a Building Permit or Certificate of Occupancy for a correctional halfway house, the Division of Building and Housing shall send a copy to the Council member in whose ward the proposed facility would be located and shall submit a notification of the receipt of the application, including the proposed address, to the Council Clerk for publication in the City Record.
(l) Annual Registration. Prior to issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for a correctional halfway house, the operator shall submit supervisor and operator information to the Division of Building and Housing. This information shall include the names and phone numbers of all on-site supervisors; the name, address and telephone number of the operator; if the operator is a partnership or a corporation, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all general partners or officers; if any of the general partners are partnerships or corporations, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all officers; and the name and address of the statutory agent, if any. The address for corporations and partnerships shall be the principal place of business and the address for natural persons shall be the home address. This information shall be amended upon a change to it, and shall be submitted annually to the Division of Building and Housing by the first day of February.
(Ord. No. 2215-96. Passed 4-7-97, eff. 4-7-97; Reprinted 7-2-97 CR)