Item 13 - OC Grand Jury's Investigative Report, Findings, and Recommendations Regarding Group Homes and the Orange County Animal Care Shelter

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WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD Zoning ordinances are the primary control local governments have over city land use. The .State of California -has challenged the validity of group home ordinances, thereby inhibiting local governments in addressing group homes through zoning ordinances. If challenged, defense of the ordinances is costly and the alternative is to repeal them, a process that can be politically charged. When Costa Mesa" originally. prevailed in the lawsuits filed against their 2014 sober living ordinance, the Cities of .Encinitas, Huntington Beach, Anaheim and the County of Orange adopted similar ordinances for sober living facilities. In May 2021, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) sent a letter to the City of Encinitas stating -its -ordinance -was. in violation of statutory prohibitions on discrimination in land use. HCD said the city must take immediate steps to repeal the ordinance. HCD's letter to the City of Encinitas noted "The City appears to take significant comfort from certain court opinions, several unpublished, appearing to reject specific, largely .different and distinguishable_ challenges to a different group home ordinance in Costa Mesa, which were brought by private parties rather than the State of California. Those decisions are neither on point nor binding here. "This statement is misleading to the -. general :public because it downplays judicial rulings favoring Costa Mesa's ordinance. 1n May of 2021, HCD sent a"Letter of Technical Assistance" to the City of Anaheim in which they discuss Anaheim's land use regulations. One of the items discussed was a phone call they had with city staff to discuss concerns with the proposed Zoning Code Amendment for group -homes. HCD's concern was that the ordinance "potentially conflict(s) with statutory prohibitions_ on discrimination in land use". - Also -in May of 2021_, HCD sent a "Notice of Violation: City of Anaheim Notice of Violations of Housing Element Law and Anti -Discrimination in Land Use" regarding the denial -of a --conditional use -permit for transitional housing. The California Department of Justice -(DOJ) subsequently joined a civil lawsuit regarding the same action. HCD -believes the_City has failed: to- implement goals, policies, and program actions included - _ --_ -..-in- thehousing element and failed to act consistent with Government Code requirements in applying standards to the approval of the Project. On Decernber.21J-2022, .HCD issued a document titled Group Home Technical - - - Advisory.20 The executive summary includes the following: _ "In recent years, some: -local governments have amended their zoning ordinances - - to add new regulations -for group homes,particularly for recovery residences- . --group homes _that pr_ov_ide housing for persons recovering from alcoholism or drug addiction. These amendments have raised concerns that local governments are not complying with their affirmative obligations under state planning and ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY 2022 1 2023 Page 17 of.42