Residential Care Facilities
and Other Special Housing Types

Overview

Compliance with State and Federal Law

The Fair Housing Act prohibits a broad range of practices that discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. Amended in 1988 to add protections for persons with disabilities, including drug and alcohol addiction, the Act applies to municipalities and other local government entities and prohibits making zoning or land use decisions or implementing land use policies that exclude or otherwise discriminate against protected persons.  It is unlawful to:

• Utilize land use policies or actions that treat groups of persons with disabilities less favorably than groups of non-disabled persons.
• Take action against, or deny a permit, for a home because of the disability of individuals who live or would live there.
• 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. 

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.

Residential Care Facilities Information

The Whittier Municipal Code defines “Residential Care Facilities” as facilities that are licensed by the State pursuant to the provisions of the California Community Care Facilities Act (Health and Safety Code Section 1500-1518) to provide permanent living accommodations and 24-hour primary non-medical care and supervision for persons in need of personal services, protection, or assistance in sustaining the activities of daily living.  Living accommodations are shared living quarters with or without separate kitchen or bathroom facilities for each room or unit.  This classification includes facilities that are operated for profit as well as those operated by public or not-for-profit institutions, including hospices, nursing homes, Alcohol or Other Drug facilities (AOD), convalescent facilities, and group homes for minors and persons with disabilities including alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities that are licensed pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 11834.01. Facilities providing medical services, under state regulations, are not “Residential Care Facilities” and are subject to different licensing requirements. Residential facilities defined as Single-Room Occupancy developments are not Residential Care Facilities and are subject to city approval of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP).  

• State law generally does not impose any separation requirements between licensed facilities, so there are no such requirements in the Whittier Municipal Code.

• Residential Care Facilities are permitted in Whittier’s residential neighborhoods, where zoning permits residences, subject to the below provisions.

Residential Care Facilities serving six or fewer persons:

By state law, licensed facilities serving six or fewer residents are residential uses and cannot be subject to zoning regulations that do not apply generally to all residences in an area. Therefore, Residential Care Facilities serving six or fewer persons are permitted by right, with no zoning approval necessary, in all residential and mixed-use zones (R-E, R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5, C-0, C-2-H/O, and MU-1, MU-2, and MU-3 zones). Information on these zones can be found here:

https://library.municode.com/ca/whittier/codes/code_of_ordinances  

If modifications to a residence are required (addition of square footage, interior redesign, etc.), planning review and approval are completed under the provisions of the City of Whittier’s Municipal Code for any residential use in the zone where the property is located. Building Division review is conducted for the change of occupancy from R-3 to R-3.1 and compliance with institutional standards, which includes coordination with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

To obtain additional information, contact Building & Safety and Code Enforcement, available under the complaint section below.

Code Enforcement cannot address the use of a residential care facility serving six or fewer persons. However, issues regarding noise, property maintenance, or any other violations of residential zoning standards can be reported. Contact information is available under the complaint section below.

Residential Care Facilities serving seven or more persons are subject to review and can be permitted in the R-2, R-3, R-4, MU-1, MU-2, MU-3, C-O, C-1, C-2, C-2-H/O, and C-3 Zones

Residential Care Facilities and Group Homes serving seven or more persons require approval of a conditional use permit (CUP). The CUP process requires a public hearing where the request will be reviewed by the Planning Commission. Public hearing notices will be mailed to property owners and residents with a 300’ radius of the proposed location.

Code Enforcement will assist in enforcement of conditions of approval of any conditional use permit granted for residential care facilities serving seven or more persons.

Types of conditions the city may impose when approving a residential care facility

When approving a CUP for a residential care facility with over six residents, the City may impose conditions necessary to ensure compliance with its regulations, and to address operational considerations (individual parking, delivery, and noise) that could create impacts to surrounding properties. 

Occupancy Limits

Occupancy limits and building, fire, or other health and safety code requirements apply the same nondiscriminatory occupancy limits to residential care facilities as to other housing. Residential care facilities may be subject to requirements for specific types of licensed facilities, such as those serving persons with limited mobility.

Business License

The City of Whittier’s Municipal Code requires that any licensed residential care facilities serving any number of residents obtain a city business license.

Locations of residential care facilities

Presently, there is no city list of existing residential care facilities.  This link can be used to search the California Department of Social Services for licensed facilities:

https://www.ccld.dss.ca.gov/carefacilitysearch/

Group Homes/Unlicensed Facilities Information

Broadly, a group house is housing shared by unrelated persons with disabilities that provide peer and other support for their residents’ disability-related needs and in which residents share cooking, dining, and living areas, and may, in some group homes, participate in shared cooking, housekeeping, and other communal living activities.

Currently, state and federal laws limit the discretionary authority of local agencies to regulate or prohibit unlicensed group homes including those with occupants in recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction (“sober living homes”) located in single-family neighborhoods.

Group Homes Facilities:

Following state guidelines, group homes that operate as single-family residences and that do not provide licensable services should be allowed in single-family neighborhoods, subject only to the generally applicable, nondiscriminatory health, safety, and zoning laws that apply to all single-family residences.

• This is true even if these homes have more than six residents.

Imposing Special Parking Requirements on Unlicensed Group Homes

Requiring group homes to have or construct additional off-street parking spaces can impose considerable costs that constrain housing opportunities for persons with disabilities. These special parking requirements will often conflict with the right to privacy under the California Constitution, as well as local governments’ obligations to affirmatively support housing for persons with disabilities and avoid discriminating against them. As there are no regulations in the City of Whittier’s Municipal Code for unlicensed group homes, there are no parking standards beyond those for the underlying residential use.

Supportive Housing and Transitional Housing Information

Group homes that operate within the statutory definitions of Supportive Housing or Transitional Housing.

Supportive housing is defined by Government Code section 65650 as housing that:

• Has no limit on the length of stay,
• Is linked to onsite or offsite services that assist residents in improving their health status, retaining housing, and maximizing their ability to live and, where possible, work in the community,
• Is occupied by the “target population,” which “means persons with low incomes who have one or more disabilities, including mental illness, HIV or AIDS, substance abuse, or other chronic health condition, or individuals eligible for services provided pursuant to the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act. . . and may include, among other populations, adults, emancipated minors, families with children, elderly persons, young adults aging out of the foster care system, individuals exiting from institutional settings, veterans and homeless people.”

Transitional housing is in defined Government Code section 65650 as housing that:

• Buildings configured as rental housing developments but operated under program requirements that require the termination of assistance and recirculating of the assisted unit to another eligible program recipient at a predetermined future point in time that shall be no less than six months from the beginning of the assistance,
• May limit the length of stay and is not required to provide supportive services (though may be linked to them),
• Is not limited to residents within the “target population.”

Key Protections for Supportive and Transitional Housing.

If a group home operates in ways that qualify it as either supportive or transitional housing, jurisdictions must comply with additional protections for these types of housing within Housing Element Laws.

Alcohol or Other Drug (AOD) Facilities

Residential facilities that must obtain licenses from DHCS because they provide alcoholism or drug addiction recovery and treatment services.

Contact California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) for more details on AOD Facilities at (877) 685-8333.

Complaints

Complaints/concerns on the operations of licensed residential care facilities can be directed to:

California Department of Social Services

1-844-LET-US-NO (1-844-538-8766)

Email:letusno@dss.ca.gov  

Complaints/concerns on the operations of licensed Alcohol and other Drug (AOD) facilities can be directed to:

California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)

(877) 685-8333

Email: sudcomplaints@dhcs.ca.gov

Complaints/concerns residences violating Whittier’s Municipal Code (W.M.C)

Code Enforcement

(562) 567-9190

Email: WHCodeEnforce@cityofwhittier.org

Building & Safety

(562) 567-9320

Email: comdev@cityofwhittier.org 

The Whittier Police Department can respond to any disturbance complaints after normal business hours. The phone number to contact is (562) 567-9200.