(a) A person commits an offense if he owns or operates a boarding home facility in the city without a valid license issued under this chapter. A separate license is required for each boarding home facility that a person operates.
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section if a person operates a boarding home facility while an application under Section 8A-6 is pending.
(a) This chapter does not apply to the following:
(1) Home and community support services licensed under Chapter 142 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, as amended.
(2) Convalescent and nursing homes and related institutions licensed under Chapter 242 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, as amended.
(3) Continuing care facilities licensed under Chapter 246 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, as amended.
(4) Assisted living facilities licensed under Chapter 247 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, as amended.
(5) Intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded licensed under Chapter 252 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, as amended.
(6) A person that provides home health, hospice, or personal assistance services only to persons enrolled in a program funded wholly or partly by a state agency with jurisdiction over mental health and mental disability and monitored by that state agency or its designated local authority in accordance with standards set by that agency.
(7) An establishment conducted by or for persons who have a sincere religious belief in providing facilities to care and treat the sick by depending exclusively on prayer or spiritual means for healing, without the use of any drug or material remedy, if the establishment complies with safety, sanitary, and quarantine laws and rules including Sections 8A-22, 8A-23, 8A-24, 8A-27(h), 8A-29, 8A-30, 8A-31, 8A-32, 8A-33, and 8A-34 of this chapter.
(8) A hotel as defined by Section 156.001 of the Texas Tax Code, as amended.
(9) A retirement community as defined by Section 11.18 of the Texas Tax Code, as amended.
(10) A monastery or convent as defined by Section 51A-4.204 of the Dallas Development Code, as amended.
(11) A child-care facility as defined by Section 42.002 of the Texas Human Resources Code, as amended.
(12) A family violence shelter center as defined by Section 51.002 of the Texas Human Resources Code, as amended.
(13) A college dormitory, fraternity, or sorority house as defined by Section 51A-4.209 of the Dallas Development Code, as amended.
(14) A facility listed in this section with a pending application for a state license falling within one of the above-listed exemption categories.
(b) The director may inspect an establishment described in Subsection (a)(7) for the purpose of ascertaining whether any violations of any safety, sanitary, and quarantine laws and rules, including Sections 8A-22, 8A-23, 8A-24, 8A-27(h), 8A-29, 8A-30, 8A-31, 8A-32, 8A-33, and 8A-34 of this chapter exist. If the director identifies any violation or if the owner, occupant, or person in control of the establishment denies permission to search any part of the interior or exterior of the structure or the surrounding premises, the establishment is not exempt from the application of Sections 8A-4(a), 8A-40, or any other provisions of this chapter. (Ord. Nos. 28706; 29753)
(a) To obtain a license to operate a boarding home facility, a person must submit an application to the director on a form provided for that purpose. The applicant must be the owner or operator of the boarding home facility. If the owner or operator is not an individual, an authorized officer or agent of the owner or operator must file the form. The application must contain the following information and be accompanied by the fee, if any, required under Section 8A-8 of this chapter before it is considered to be complete:
(1) The name, street address, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, a legible copy of the driver's license or other official state or federal identification card, and date of birth of the applicant. The street address may not be the address of the boarding home facility unless the applicant actually resides full-time at the boarding home facility.
(2) The name, street address, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, a legible copy of the driver's license or other official state or federal identification card, and position of the authorized officer or agent filing the form on behalf of the applicant, if the applicant is not an individual. The street address may not be the address of the boarding home facility unless the authorized officer or agent actually resides full-time at the boarding home facility.
(3) The form of business of the applicant; the name, street address, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, a legible copy of the driver's license or other official state or federal identification card, and date of birth of a high managerial agent of the business; and, if the business is a legal entity, such as a corporation or association, a copy of the documents establishing the business.
(4) The street address and telephone number of the boarding home facility.
(5) The name, street address, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number of a person or persons to contact in an emergency as required by Section 8A-17 of this chapter.
(6) Documentary evidence of payment of ad valorem taxes, fees, fines, and penalties owed to the city in connection with the boarding home facility or documentary evidence that the applicant is current on a payment plan for any back ad valorem taxes, fees, fines, and penalties owed to the city in connection with the boarding home facility.
(7) The names, street addresses, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, legible copies of the drivers' licenses or other official state or federal identification cards, and dates of birth of any owners, operators, employees, and volunteers of the boarding home facility other than the applicant. The street address may not be the address of the boarding home facility, unless the owner, operator, or employee actually resides full-time at the boarding home facility.
(8) If the owner or operator of the boarding home facility is not also the owner of the property on which the boarding home facility is located, a letter signed by the owner of the property stating that the applicant has permission to operate a boarding home facility on the property and acknowledging the requirements for the property to be used as a boarding home facility as set forth in this chapter. If the owner of the property is an entity, the letter must be on official letterhead and signed by an officer of the entity or other person with the authority to make binding representations on the entity's behalf regarding the use of the property.
(9) Criminal history reports for each owner, operator, employee, and volunteer of the boarding home facility showing that they are not disqualified to own, operate, or work at a boarding home facility under Section 8A-37 of this chapter. Such reports must include a current official Texas criminal history report (issued within the preceding 12 months) for each owner, operator, employee, and volunteer of the boarding home facility as well as an official criminal history report issued within the preceding 12 months from all other states in which an owner, operator, employee, or volunteer has resided within the past 10 years.
(10) The maximum number of residents that will reside at the boarding home facility.
(11) The services to be offered or provided to the residents of the boarding home facility.
(12) Proof that the proposed use of the property complies with the Dallas Development Code.
(13) If the boarding home facility has one or more residents with a disability, a list of the categories of disabilities of the residents (vision impairment, hearing impairment, mobility impairment, dementia, and other).
(14) A sworn certification from the applicant, owner, or operator that the boarding home facility does not have, and will not have, any residents with an addiction to alcohol or a controlled substance, or alternatively, a document that describes the applicant's, owner's, or operator's plan for ensuring that the residents who are addicted to alcohol or a controlled substance, or who are recovering from such an addiction, refrain from using alcohol or the controlled substance, including all rules by which residents must abide, as required by Section 8A-34 of this chapter.
(15) A statement that, by filing the application, the applicant swears or affirms under penalty of perjury that, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, all information contained in the application is true and correct and that the application is complete and includes all information required to be disclosed under this section.
(16) A survey showing the location and distances of the boarding home facility from other boarding home facilities and group dwelling facilities located within 2,000 feet. For purposes of this paragraph, group dwelling facility includes a group residential facility and handicapped group dwelling unit, as those terms are defined in Section 51A-4.209 of the Dallas City Code. For purposes of this paragraph, the distance between uses is measured in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, between the nearest boundaries of the building sites on which the uses are located. (Note: The spacing component of these regulations is based, not on the handicapped status of the residents, but on the non-family status of the groups.)
(17) Such additional information as the applicant desires to include or that the director deems necessary to aid in the determination of whether the requested license should be granted.
(b) If the applicant failed to provide all of the information required by Subsection (a) or to pay the fee required by Section 8A-8 of this chapter, the director shall give the applicant notice in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the application's deficiencies.
(c) The application will automatically expire if either the fee or the information requested in Subsection (b) is not provided to the director within 30 days of the date written notice was sent to applicant by the director.
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