2004 Resolutions - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

- R-04-38 A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE CONCENTRATION OF SINGLE FAMILY GROUP HOMES, AND TO DETERMINE ALTERNATIVES WHICH WOULD RESULT IN GREATER DISPERSION AND INTEGRATION OF SUCH FACILITIES INTO SOCIETY. WHEREAS, in recent years, national policy toward mentally ill, mentally retarded, and developmentally disabled citizens has changed from a policy of institutionalization to a policy of de-institutionalization; and WHEREAS, the principal rationale underlying this new policy is to improve the lives of such citizens by integrating them more fully into society; and WHEREAS, many single family group homes, also known as residential care facilities ("single family group homes"), have come into existence to meet the new need for housing such citizens; and WHEREAS, Section 15.2-2291 of the Code of Virginia requires that single family group homes for eight or fewer people be treated for zoning purposes as single family residences, and the City's zoning ordinance does as required by state law under the uses of "Family Care Residence for Adults" and "Family Care Residence for Children"; and WHEREAS, it is part of national policy that single family group homes be located in residential neighborhoods, in order that the citizens who reside in those group homes may enjoy the full benefits of regular interaction and friendships with members of society; and WHEREAS, various economic factors have led to an undue and excessive concentration of single family group homes in certain neighborhoods in the City of Portsmouth, with over thirty-one such facilities - approximately one-fifth of all such facilities in the entire state - presently located in the Park View and Cavalier Manor neighborhoods, and this undue concentration is becoming so extreme that it verges on a re-segregation of mentally ill, mentally retarded, and developmentally disabled citizens from society, which condition benefits neither those citizens nor the neighborhoods in question; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia, that the City does hereby request the General Assembly of Virginia to conduct a study of(l) the undue and excessive concentration of single family group homes in certain neighborhoods; (2) the adverse effect of this excessive concentration on the residents of single family group homes; (3) the adverse effect of this excessive concentration on the neighborhoods in question; and (4) workable regulatory alternatives which would result in a greater dispersion of single family group homes for the mutual benefit of the residents thereof and the affected neighborhoods. This resolution shall be effective immediately upon its adoption.