(a) Licensing: A group home shall not be permitted to be constructed or operated until the public agency, or nonprofit institution operating such a home satisfies City Council that the home and its operation comply or, within three months after City Council grants a special permit, will comply with all licensing or certification requirements of the City and of the appropriate State or County certifying agencies.
(b) Building, Fire, Health and Safety Standards: The group home shall meet building, fire, health and safety standards as set by State and local laws and regulations applicable to such a home.
(c) Location: Group homes may be located in any of the zoning districts of the City except where residences are otherwise excluded, and subject to the requirements of subsection (i) hereof.
(d) Types of Dwellings: Group homes shall be established in detached single-family dwellings, in two-family or multiple dwellings converted entirely to group home use, or commercial buildings having a residential portion which is used entirely for group home use.
(e) Residential Character: The residential character of all structures shall be maintained. No structure approved as a group home shall have its character altered from its residential character. The design of a proposed new structure and any proposed remodeling of existing structures shall be feasible for permitted uses in the district in the event that the group home is discontinued, and will not be detrimental to the area because of substantial differences in exterior design or site development.
(f) Off-Street Parking: The home must comply with the parking requirements for the zone within which it is located and insure that adequate off-street parking is provided for hired or volunteer staff.
(g) Spacing: In order to prevent the creation of defacto social service districts and to reduce any negative impact on neighborhoods and the community, no group home shall be permitted within one thousand feet of the boundary lines of the property on which another group home in the City is located.
(h) Distribution: The total number of group homes shall be limited in order to reduce the impact of group homes on any one area. The maximum number of group homes permitted shall be one per 1,000 single-family residential dwelling units or major fraction thereof located in the City.
(i) Maximum Number of Residents Per Home: In order to insure that these facilities are not significantly larger than single-family households in the City, the maximum number of residents to be permitted in any group home shall be six resident clients, and no more than eight total residents exclusive of resident children of the staff.
(j) Screening of Residents: No group home shall admit into residence any client until such client has first been screened by the licensee to insure that such client's history or present condition does not indicate that such client represents a substantial risk of physical harm to the client or to others; and provided further that no group home shall be permitted to have in residence adult persons immediately discharged from a penal or correctional facility, or adult persons under probation, parole or conditional release, or adult persons being treated primarily for alcohol or drug abuse, or adult persons who have been convicted of the following crimes as defined under the following sections of the Ohio Revised Code:
2903.01 Aggravated murder
2903.02 Murder
2903.03 Voluntary manslaughter
2903.04 Involuntary manslaughter
2903.06 Aggravated vehicular homicide
2903.11 Felonious assault
2903.12 Aggravated assault
2905.01 Kidnapping
2905.02 Abduction
2905.04 Child stealing
2907.02 Rape
2907.03 Sexual battery
2907.05 Gross sexual imposition
2907.07 Importuning
2907.12 Felonious sexual penetration
2909.02 Aggravated arson
2909.03 Arson
2911.01 Aggravated robbery
2911.02 Robbery
2923.12 Carrying concealed weapons
2923.13 Having weapons while under disability
2923.15 Using weapons while intoxicated
2923.16 Improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle
2923.17 Unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance
2923.19 Failure to secure dangerous ordnance
2925.02 Corrupting another with drugs
2925.03 Trafficking in drugs
2925.11 Drug abuse
2925.21 Theft of drugs
(k) Operation: Each group home shall be operated by a public agency or a nonprofit institution.
(l) Sponsoring Organization: Each group home shall be sponsored by a religious, charitable, educational, civic or social service organization located in the City in order to facilitate communication with and support for the home within the community. The sponsoring organization shall create an advisory committee of at least five people who are residents of the City, which shall include at least two interested persons who live within a 500-foot radius of the home, to advise the licensee of the group home concerning the group home's operation within the community.
(m) Staff: The licensee of each group home shall employ a sufficient number of qualified persons to provide the services which it offers in such a way as to meet the standards and guidelines of these rules. No operator shall knowingly employ a person of questionable character or reputation, or one whose physical, mental or emotional health is such as to be a danger to the persons under care.
(Ord. 12-2012. Passed 10-15-12.)
(Ord. 12-2012. Passed 10-15-12.)