Chapter 18.40
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION PROCESS
Sections:
18.40.020 Reasonable accommodation.
18.40.030 Waiver of building codes and other uniform requirements.
18.40.040 Accommodations personal to the applicant.
18.40.050 Final decision – Findings – Notice.
18.40.010 Purpose.
This chapter has been enacted to authorize the city manager or his designee to waive or vary provisions, when necessary, of the Normandy Park Municipal Code to reasonably accommodate the statutory rights of the disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Fair Housing Act or the Fair Housing Act Amendment (FHA or FHAA), the Washington Housing Policy Act (WHPA), or the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). This process shall be interpreted and administered in order to ensure the full exercise and enjoyment of a disabled person’s right to the residential housing of his or her choosing. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to commercial activities or zones; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be interpreted to limit the exercise of a disabled person’s rights by or through a residential care provider. In the event of any conflict or if an interpretation of this chapter is required, it shall be implemented and interpreted in accordance with the provisions of the ADA, the FHA, the FHAA, the WHPA, and the WLAD. (Ord. 899 § 1, 2013).
18.40.020 Reasonable accommodation.
(1) Upon the application of a disabled person or individual or entity providing services to the disabled in a residential facility or other group living arrangement (hereinafter “disabled person”), the city manager or his designee is hereby authorized to vary, modify, or waive the provisions of the Normandy Park Municipal Code, including but not limited to this title, parking and standing restrictions contained in NPMC Title 8, and pursuant to provisions of NPMC Title 14 relating to buildings and construction, in order to provide a reasonable accommodation as necessary to provide to a disabled person or the disabled person’s care provider the full enjoyment of a residence.
(2) The following review shall include an opportunity for citizen input into the administrative process. The city manager shall provide written notice of the accommodation to the applicant and property owners within 300 feet of the subject site. Operators of group homes are strongly encouraged to conduct voluntary informational meetings with the residents of the neighborhood in which they wish to locate prior to moving into a new location.
(3) When applying this reasonable accommodation process to the Normandy Park Municipal Code, including application of the state building code and other codes adopted pursuant to NPMC Title 14, the staff shall avoid the stereotypical assumptions regarding the disabled and shall attempt to ascertain the actual physical and/or mental limitation of the disabled individual by appropriate evidence in order to craft an accommodation which best suits the exercise of the individual’s rights. This process shall be interactive and include consultation with the disabled individual. The city shall make every effort to protect confidentiality regarding the nature and extent of an individual’s disability, to the extent permitted by state law. (Ord. 899 § 1, 2013).
18.40.030 Waiver of building codes and other uniform requirements.
No reasonable accommodation shall be provided by a waiver or variance to the provisions of the codes adopted pursuant to NPMC Title 14 which do not substantially accomplish the purposes of those chapters or which would reduce the fire, structural, electrical, plumbing or other life or health safety features of any structure. Modifications, waivers or variances of the provisions of the International Building Codes, International Fire Codes, and other codes adopted pursuant to NPMC 14.05.015 et seq. of the Normandy Park Municipal Code shall provide at least the same level of safety required by the respective codes. The applicant shall have the burden of establishing that the proposed modification, waiver or variance accomplishes substantially the same purpose without reduction of fire and other safety requirements. Nothing herein shall be required to require the waiver of a code provision or permit requirement which is generally applicable to all persons and does not have a differential, negative impact on the disabled, such as, for example, lot square footage requirements, provisions relating to impervious surfaces and utility charges and fees generally applicable to every resident. (Ord. 899 § 1, 2013).
18.40.040 Accommodations personal to the applicant.
The accommodation provided shall be personal to the applicant and shall not run with the land; provided, however, that a change in a residential structure necessary to accommodate the operation of a residential care provider to the disabled may be continued by future operations of similar facilities at the site which establish the same use within six months of the date the prior use by a disabled person or residential care provider ceases. The city manager may therefore direct that any physical change in the structure which would otherwise be illegal under the use or bulk requirements of the Community Development Code be brought into compliance six months after the date of sale, transfer or nonuse of a residential structure to a person or entity not qualifying for the provisions of the ADA, WLAD, FHA, FHAA, or WHPA. (Ord. 899 § 1, 2013).
18.40.050 Final decision – Findings – Notice.
The city manager or designee shall issue a written accommodation decision within 30 days of issuance of the notice provided in NPMC 18.40.020(2). This accommodation decision shall be a final decision, subject to the appeal provision in NPMC 18.40.060. A copy of the accommodation decision shall be provided to the applicant and property owners who comment following notice of the application under NPMC 18.40.020(3). The accommodation decision shall include findings and conclusions supporting the decision. (Ord. 899 § 1, 2013).
18.40.060 Revocation.
(1) The city manager or his designee may issue a written notice of violation to the disabled person in the event that reasonable cause exists to believe that any disabled person who has been granted a reasonable accommodation is:
(a) In violation of any condition of approval;
(b) That the property for which a reasonable accommodation has been granted is no longer in the ownership of the disabled person; and/or
(c) Violations of city policies, practices or ordinances have occurred which are beyond the scope of an approved reasonable accommodation.
(2) Notice shall be delivered to the disabled person by the U.S. mail, addressed to the individual at the property for which the reasonable accommodation has been approved (hereinafter “respondent”).
(3) The respondent may:
(a) Appeal the violation within 14 calendar days of deposit of the notice of violation in the U.S. mail by filing a written notice of appeal with the hearing examiner in accordance with NPMC 14.05.400; or
(b) Come into compliance within the compliance period set forth in the notice.
(4) Failure to respond, either by appeal within the period set forth or by compliance within the compliance period, shall void the granted reasonable accommodation.
(5) This hearing is an information process. In the event of a timely appeal, a hearing shall be set before the city’s hearing examiner in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 18.150 NPMC. (Ord. 924 § 2(L), 2015; Ord. 899 § 1, 2013).
18.40.070 Appeal.
Except as provided in NPMC 18.40.060, there shall be no internal administrative appeal from the decision of the city manager. Interested persons – that is, persons located within 300 feet of the building site – may appeal the reasonable accommodation by filing a petition for review with the King County superior court in accordance with the provisions of the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA). (Ord. 899 § 1, 2013).