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ZOA No. 2025-01: Group Home Ordinance (Citywide) <br />June 23, 2025 <br />Page 4 <br />5 <br />1 <br />0 <br />8 <br />to blindness, mobility impairment, mental illness, learning disabilities, and alcoholism and <br />drug addiction. <br />Present Status in Santa Ana <br />The City’s ability to limit the impacts of group homes on the community are regulated by <br />state and federal legislation. Current provisions of the SAMC do not clearly define group <br />homes. In addition, the SAMC does not expressly identify or allow these uses; rather, the <br />SAMC only specifies residential uses in general terms and such facilities have established <br />in residential zones without any type of zoning permit approval. Because of this, the City’s <br />Code Enforcement Division has encountered challenges in its efforts to regulate group <br />homes. Furthermore, the City has witnessed an increasing amount of clustered group <br />homes locating within the City’s residential neighborhoods that are functioning similarly to <br />that of an institutionalized facility which can disrupt the neighborhood character envisioned <br />by the City’s General Plan. <br />Based on state and City data, 74 sober-living homes are estimated to be operating in Santa <br />Ana, of which 24 are licensed facilities and 50 are suspected to be unlicensed facilities. But <br />because of their unlicensed status, these operations are not certain. <br />State Licensing and Requirements <br />The state has established a licensing system for certain group homes that provide certain <br />type of care and supervision. These state licensed facilities are designed to accommodate <br />individuals who may require 24-hour supervision but who do not need extensive medical <br />care. These facilities provide services to a diverse group of individuals and vary in size and <br />capacity. Such facilities include intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled, <br />community care facilities, residential care facilities for the elderly, residential care facilities <br />for the chronically ill, alcoholism and drug abuse facilities, pediatric day health and respite <br />care facilities, residential health care facilities (including congregate living health facilities), <br />family care homes, foster homes, and group homes for the mentally disordered or otherwise <br />disabled persons or dependent and neglected children. <br />These types of licensed facilities are regulated by the Department of Social Services (DSS), <br />Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) or Department of Public Health (DPH), which <br />fall under the supervision of the Health and Human Services Agency (HHS) of the State of <br />California. Each department has its own review and application process and such facilities <br />are inspected annually. <br />State law makes it clear that cities cannot regulate state licensed group homes that provide <br />care and services to six (6) or fewer individuals. In addition, cities cannot regulate living <br />arrangements in which the occupants operate as a “single housekeeping unit.” Licensed <br />group homes and single housekeeping units must be treated like single-family residences <br />for zoning purposes. Therefore, these types of facilities must be permitted in all residential <br />