SB 1124 Second Engrossed
20091124e2
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to community residential homes;
3 amending s. 393.501, F.S.; prohibiting certain rules
4 adopted by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities
5 from restricting the number of facilities designated
6 as community residential homes located within a
7 planned residential community; amending s. 419.001,
8 F.S.; defining the term “planned residential
9 community”; providing that community residential homes
10 that have six or fewer residents located within a
11 planned residential community are not required to
12 obtain local government approval regardless of their
13 proximity to each other; providing an effective date.
14
15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17 Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 393.501, Florida
18 Statutes, is amended to read:
19 393.501 Rulemaking.—
20 (2) Such rules shall address the number of facilities on a
21 single lot or on adjacent lots, except that there shall be no
22 restriction on the number of facilities designated as community
23 residential homes pursuant to s. 419.001(1)(a) located within a
24 planned residential community as defined in s. 419.001(1)(f). In
25 adopting rules, an alternative living center and an independent
26 living education center, as described in s. 393.18, shall be
27 subject to the provisions of s. 419.001, except that such
28 centers shall be exempt from the 1,000-foot-radius requirement
29 of s. 419.001(2) if:
30 (a) The centers are located on a site zoned in a manner
31 that permits all the components of a comprehensive transitional
32 education center to be located on the site; or
33 (b) There are no more than three such centers within a
34 radius of 1,000 feet.
35 Section 2. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 419.001,
36 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
37 419.001 Site selection of community residential homes.—
38 (1) For the purposes of this section, the following
39 definitions shall apply:
40 (a) “Community residential home” means a dwelling unit
41 licensed to serve residents, as defined in paragraph (d), who
42 are clients of the Department of Elderly Affairs, the Agency for
43 Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Juvenile Justice,
44 or the Department of Children and Family Services or a dwelling
45 unit licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration which
46 provides a living environment for 7 to 14 unrelated residents
47 who operate as the functional equivalent of a family, including
48 such supervision and care by supportive staff as may be
49 necessary to meet the physical, emotional, and social needs of
50 the residents.
51 (b) “Licensing entity” or “licensing entities” means the
52 Department of Elderly Affairs, the Agency for Persons with
53 Disabilities, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department
54 of Children and Family Services, or the Agency for Health Care
55 Administration, all of which are authorized to license a
56 community residential home to serve residents, as defined in
57 paragraph (d).
58 (c) “Local government” means a county as set forth in
59 chapter 7 or a municipality incorporated under the provisions of
60 chapter 165.
61 (d) “Resident” means any of the following: a frail elder as
62 defined in s. 429.65; a person who has a handicap physically
63 disabled or handicapped person as defined in s. 760.22(7)(a); a
64 developmentally disabled person who has a developmental
65 disability as defined in s. 393.063; a nondangerous mentally ill
66 person who has a mental illness as defined in s. 394.455 as
67 defined in s. 394.455(18); or a child who is found to be
68 dependent as defined in s. 39.01 or s. 984.03, or a child in
69 need of services as defined in s. 984.03 or s. 985.03.
70 (e) “Sponsoring agency” means an agency or unit of
71 government, a profit or nonprofit agency, or any other person or
72 organization which intends to establish or operate a community
73 residential home.
74 (f) “Planned residential community” means a local
75 government-approved, planned unit development having amenities
76 that are designed to serve residents who have developmental
77 disabilities and may contain two or more community residential
78 homes, licensed by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities,
79 which are contiguous to one another.
80 (2) Homes of six or fewer residents which otherwise meet
81 the definition of a community residential home shall be deemed a
82 single-family unit and a noncommercial, residential use for the
83 purpose of local laws and ordinances. Such homes of six or fewer
84 residents which otherwise meet the definition of a community
85 residential home:
86 (a) Shall be allowed in single-family or multifamily zoning
87 without approval by the local government approval if they are,
88 provided that such homes shall not be located within a radius of
89 1,000 feet of another existing such home that has with six or
90 fewer residents. Such homes are with six or fewer residents
91 shall not be required to comply with the notification provisions
92 of this section if; provided that, prior to licensure, the
93 sponsoring agency provides the local government with the most
94 recently published data compiled from the licensing entities
95 that identifies all community residential homes within the
96 jurisdictional limits of the local government in which the
97 proposed site is to be located in order to show that no other
98 community residential home is within a radius of 1,000 feet of
99 the proposed home with six or fewer residents. At the time of
100 home occupancy, the sponsoring agency must notify the local
101 government that the home is licensed by the licensing entity.
102 (b) If located within a planned residential community, do
103 not require local government approval regardless of their
104 proximity to each other. This subsection does not limit the
105 authority of a local government to approve or deny a planned
106 unit development.
107 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.