HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter #56 Brandi Hagerty Shestak, Joe From:Conn, Angelina V Sent:Sunday, January 22, 2023 10:27 PM To:Brandi Hagerty Cc:Shestak, Joe Subject:Re: 44 Horseshoe Ln. Group Home - Docket No. PZ-2022-00208 Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Completed Brandi- thank you for your email. I will ask the BZA secretary to send this to the BZA members & petitioner, and to add it to the BZA file. Sent from iPhone On Jan 21, 2023, at 10:38 AM, Brandi Hagerty <brandi.hagerty@outlook.com> wrote: Hello Angie, I am a resident of Woodland Springs and had a few questions about the above referenced Special Exception Application. Several new (but apparently old) communications and documents have just been uploaded to the online file on 1/20 for the requested group home for elderly persons at 44 Horseshoe Lane. In these, the Applicant expresses that this proposed group home, which she described repeatedly in her Application and related documents as one for "Elderly Residents. No Medical Care. No Memory Care" is actually one for "disabled people." The Applicant is an attorney who operates group homes as a business practice. It is difficult to understand how she could fail to indicate in her Application that she seeks to operate a home for disabled persons protected by the Fair Housing Act. Even in these newly uploaded communications from November 2022, the Applicant fails to use the correct and legal definition of disabled persons under the FHA. She does not answer the direct question you posed in your email dated November 22, 2022 specifically asking for "confirmation that the residents at your facility will have a documented disability." Instead, the Applicant replied that the purpose of the group home was, "to provide supportive and health- related services to persons in need of assistance with daily activities. . ., i.e. persons with disabilities." This, as I'm sure the Applicant well knows, does not meet the FHA's definition of disability (one which substantially limits one or more major life activities). Also noticeably absent is any confirmation that her future as yet unknown applicants will have a documented disability. This appears vastly different than those cases where lawsuits have arisen regarding group homes for developmentally disabled persons. In the newly uploaded "Reasonable Accommodation Request" the Applicant again does not confirm that her residents will have a legally documented disability. Instead she remains vague, stating, "\[w\]hile the disability will vary by individual, people seeking assisted living homes such 1 as this generally have problems that affect their ability to engage in major life activities\[.\]" The question is not "what disabilities persons seeking assisted living homes generally have." The question is what disabilities, if any, will the specific residents of this particular group home have? Also contradictory is the fact that the Applicant has provided for no modification to provide access by persons with physical disabilities to the building, e.g. no wheel chair ramp. Because this appears to be a central issue to the Application, I think the Applicant should be required to provide more information/documentation as to the level of any disability of her residents and their specific assistive needs. The FSSA filing (Form 49028) she is required to submit for the operation of this home would be a good place to start. All correspondence with/representations made to the DHS regarding classification of this structure I believe is also relevant and should be part of the BZA's file. The Applicant has provided no supportive documents showing that her business model is one for disabled persons, that this group home requires its residents to have any disability, and the residents cannot be healthy non-disabled elderly persons. I just wanted to make sure these issues were brought to the BZA Board's attention ahead of the hearing next week. Thank you so much for your time and consideration on this matter. Brandi Hagerty 2