515.03 EXEMPTIONS.

   The provisions of this chapter shall not:

   (a)   Prohibit a religious organization, association or society or any nonprofit institution or organization operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association or society, from limiting the sale, rental or occupancy of dwellings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference to such persons, unless membership in such religion is restricted on account of race, color or national origin. Nor shall anything in this chapter prohibit a private club not in fact open to the public, which as incident to its primary purpose or purposes provides lodgings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the rental or occupancy of such lodgings to its members or from giving preference to its members, provided such club does not discriminate in its membership policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, ancestry, handicap, familial status or national origin;

   (b)   Require any person selling or renting property to modify such property in any way at his or her expense, provided that such person does not refuse to permit reasonable modifications by a handicapped person, necessary for that person to fully enjoy the premises in which or she resides, when such modifications are made at the expense of the handicapped person, which permission may be conditioned on that person's promise to restore the premises to the condition in which it previously existed before granting permission for such modification, nor shall this chapter be construed to relieve any handicapped person of any obligation generally imposed on all persons regardless of handicap in a written lease, rental agreement or contract of purchase or sale, or to forbid distinctions based on the inability to fulfill the terms and conditions, including financial obligations, of the lease, agreement or contract, so long as such distinctions are not based on the handicap itself, or on the landlord's refusal to make reasonable modification in the lease, agreement or contract conditions for the purpose of denying a handicapped person equal opportunity to the use and enjoyment of the premises;

   (c)   Prohibit restricting the sale or rental of a dwelling on the basis of handicap when such dwelling is authorized, approved, financed or subsidized in whole or in part for the benefit of persons of a handicap by a unit of state, local or federal government, so long as such restrictions do not discriminate against otherwise qualified handicapped persons;

   (d)   Require that a dwelling be made available to a person with a handicap whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others;

   (e)   Prohibit the applicability of any reasonable local, state or federal restrictions regarding the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy a dwelling;

   (f)   With regard to familial status, apply to dwellings provided under any state or federal program specifically designed and operated to assist elderly persons, as defined in the state or federal program, or to housing for older persons provided that HUD has determined such program or housing is exempt, which determination shall be conclusive;

   (g)   Prohibit a person engaged in business of furnishing appraisals of real property to take into consideration factors other than race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap or familial status;

   (h)   Apply to any single-family house sold or rented by an owner, under the terms and conditions set forth in 42 U.S.C. Section 3603(b); or to rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of such living quarters as his residence; or

   (i)   Prohibit conduct against a person because such person has been convicted by any court of competent jurisdiction of the illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance as defined in 21 U.S.C. Section 802.

      (Ord. 2004-10-93. Passed 10-13-04.)