Group Home Zoning Ordinance Amendments Effective January 5, 2012

Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance for Group Homes are located in Section 1 and Section 2 of the Avondale Zoning Ordinance.  The group home amendments include revisions to the group home definition, a new definition of “family” as: One (1) or more persons occupying a single dwelling unit, provided that unless all members are related by blood, marriage, or legal adoption, no such family contains more than six (6) non-transient unrelated persons, except where disability requires that more than six (6) unrelated person reside together.  This definition shall not include any society, club, coterie, or organization that is not a recognized religious order nor does it include any group of individuals whose association is temporary or seasonal or similar to a resort, boarding house, motel, hotel, or whose association is for a an anticipated limited duration or for a determinable period such as a school term.

Additional amendments to the Zoning Ordinance include elimination of the group home spacing requirements, permitted with conditions, and the addition of group homes as a permitted land use in the Agricultural (AG), Rural Residential (RR-43 and RR-18), Suburban Residential (R1-35 and R1-15), Urban Residential (R1-8, R1-6, and R1-5), Multi-Family Residential (R-2, R-3, and R-4), and Manufactured Home Park (MH).  These amendments were completed to meet the City’s continuing commitment to fair housing practices and to ensure the Avondale does not impose conditions generally not applicable to other single family residences.  The document can be accessed directly from the website at Zoning Ordinance/Maps web site.