City Council Minutes 2012 01 03 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2012 Page 6 of 14 Mayor Muckle opened the public hearing a requested a staff presentation. Planning Director Russ explained Ordinance No. 1611, Series 2011 proposes an amendment to the Louisville Municipal Code (LMC) to include provisions regarding requests for reasonable accommodation provided by the Federal Fair Housing Act. The current code does not include provisions adopted under the Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and used by U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity for certain protected individuals. The definition section in the LMC, addresses the age limits for Child Care Centers and Family Care Homes is 16 years. The City Attorney offered language, which would give the City Manager, or his designee, the ability to administratively approve minor modifications to building setback, height, lot coverage or occupancy requirements in order to provide reasonable accommodations consistent with the FHA. Chapter 17.52 of the Louisville Municipal Code would be amended by the addition of a new subsection 17.52.055 to provide: A) The City Manager, or designee, in consultation with the Planning and Building Safety Department, authorization to approve minor modifications of building setback, height or lot coverage requirements, up to ten percent of the applicable requirement, or of occupancy limits, up to four unrelated individuals, in order to provide reasonable accommodations without the need for an additional approval process. B) The City Manager, or designee, may approve a type of reasonable accommodation different from that requested by the applicant if the City Manager or designee concludes a different form of accommodation would satisfy the requirements of the Federal Fair Housing Act with fewer impacts on adjacent neighborhoods. The decision of the City Manager or designee shall be final for purposes of judicial review. C)Any approvals granted under this section shall be transmitted to the Planning Commission and City Council for their information by written memorandum from the City Manager. The Planning Commission reviewed the ordinance at public hearings on November 17, and December 8, 2011, and voted to recommend against approval of the proposed ordinance and identified three primary concerns with the draft ordinance: 1) The ordinance would create an administrative process that in certain circumstances would replace existing public processes therefore eliminating the opportunity for public input and participation. 2) The draft ordinance did not clearly define "minor modifications" of building setbacks, height, lot coverage, or occupancy limit. 3) The draft ordinance lacked a municipal appeal process. Staff added language in the Code to require the City Manager report back to Planning