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Civil Rights Division Home Page Page 2 of 8 example would be denying a building permit for a home because it was intended to provide housing for persons with mental retardation. • To refuse to make reasonable accommodations in land use and zoning policies and procedures where such accommodations may be necessary to afford persons or groups of persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing. • What constitutes a reasonable accommodation is a case -by -case determination. • Not all requested modifications of rules or policies are reasonable. If a requested modification imposes an undue financial or administrative burden on a local govemment, or if a modification creates a fundamental alteration in a local government's and use and zoning scheme, it is not a "reasonable" accommodation. The disability discrimination provisions of the Fair Housing Act do not extend to persons who claim to be disabled solely on the basis of having been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent, having a criminal record, or being a sex offender. Furthermore, the Fair Housing Act does not protect persons who currently use illegal drugs, persons who have been convicted of the manufacture or sale of illegal drugs, or persons with or without disabilities who present a direct threat to the persons or property of others. HUD and the Department of Justice encourage parties to group home disputes to explore all reasonable dispute resolution procedures, like mediation, as alternatives to litigation. DATE: AUGUST 18, 1999 Questions and Answers on the Fair Housing Act and Zoning Q. Does the Fair Housing Act pre -empt local zoning laws? No. "Pre - emption" is a legal term meaning that one level of government has taken over a field and left no room for government at any other level to pass laws or exercise authority in that area. The Fair Housing Act is not a land use or zoning statute; it does not pre -empt local land use and zoning laws. This is an area where state law typically gives local governments primary power. However, if that power is exercised in a specific instance in a way that is inconsistent with a federal law such as the Fair Housing Act, the federal law will control. Long before the 1988 amendments, the courts had held that the Fair Housing Act prohibited local governments from exercising their land use and zoning powers in a discriminatory way. Q. What is a group home within the meaning of the Fair Housing Act? The term "group home" does not have a specific legal meaning. In this statement, the term "group home" refers to housing occupied by groups of unrelated individuals with disabilities.0 Sometimes, but not always, housing is provided by organizations that also offer various services for individuals with disabilities living in the group homes. Sometimes it is this group home operator, rather than the individuals who live in the home, that interacts with local government in seeking permits and making requests for reasonable accommodations on behalf of those individuals. http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/final8 _ 1.php 8/17/2009