There was a second piece of legislation (House Bill 465) that was passed by the Idaho Legislature that went into law on July 1, 2008.  This legislation amends provisions of the Local Land Use Planning Act which includes certain group homes for the handicapped within the definition of “single family dwelling.”  Under the Act such homes may be established without any permits, variances or other restrictions that would not otherwise be imposed on a single family dwelling.  The state provisions are an offshoot of the federal Fair Housing Act.  In 1988, the Fair Housing Act was amended to include those suffering from drug and alcohol addiction within the definition of handicapped.  In reliance on the Fair Housing Act group homes for drug and alcohol addicts have appeared in increasing numbers in family neighborhoods.  Residents in these homes are often convicted felons still under the supervision of the Department of Corrections, or registered sex offenders.

The Fair Housing Act does contain some exclusions.  One exclusion specifically exempts from protection those “whose tenancy would otherwise 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.”  According to the United States Department of Justice that includes “persons convicted for illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance, sex offenders, and juvenile offenders,” by virtue of their status.  It would also include those who are still under the supervision of the department of corrections on probation or parole.

The current state law, however, does not contain the federal exemption, and therefore imposes a greater restriction on local government zoning authority than does the Fair Housing Act.  The present legislation adds the federal exemption to state law to permit local government greater latitude in applying zoning procedures and conditions to group homes housing those falling within the exemption.  The legislation also clarifies terms of reference for group residence homes so that they are consistent in the applicable sections.  The term “supervision” is also clarified to specify the nature of the qualifying supervision connected with the handicapped residents as distinguished from unrelated types of supervision, such as parole or probation supervision.

Gail Heist is the Managing Broker at NAI Kowallis & Mackey, a full service Idaho commercial real estate brokerage and part of the world's largest network of commercial real estate offices consisting of 5,000 professionals in 350 offices in 55 countries around the world.  Gail can be reached by phone at 208.385.9876 or by clicking the contact Gail link to the left of this post.  Click here to view our current inventory of commercial properties.