| Paradise
council considers laws, public opinion in whether to allow
second home for family with health issue
By Marilyn Shelton
March 23, 2997 | PARADISE -- After weeks of debate
the Paradise town council is still a "hung jury"
over the issue of whether planning and zoning should
allow Roland Leishman and his family to have a second
dwelling on their lot. The council has, however, decided
to consider existing laws as well as conduct a public
opinion poll.
The Leishmans have a separate, second dwelling on
their lot for their daughter, who needs a separate caretaker.
According to city ordinance it is illegal to have two
dwellings on one lot. The last meeting ended in the
council issuing the Leishmans a temporary conditional
use permit.
To Wednesday's meeting, Mayor Lee Atwood brought his
wife, Cheryl Atwood, the executive director of Options
for Independence. Mrs. Atwood brought up the Independence
Disability Rights Law. The Americans with Disabilities
Act and the Fair Housing Act fall under that law. She
passed out copies of the law to all the council members.
"The Fair Housing Act, Section 504, prohibits
housing discrimination on the basis of religion, sex,
disability, familial status, and national origin. It
does not apply to single-family homes. They [the Leishmans]
could sue you, but they wouldn't win," she said.
She said the council according to law would not be
able to prohibit "group homes."
She defined group homes as nursing homes or rehabilitation
centers. Her main point was that there are laws that
apply to single family housing but no laws that allow
the disability act to be put to use if a family has
more than one dwelling, and so far, the Leishmans have
two. That is the main problem of the Paradise Planning
and Zoning Commission.
"You can't write an ordinance that discriminates
against disabled people. So I don't see how you can
write an ordinance for a second dwelling on a single
family property to anyone. . . . How about if a Muslim
said he needed a separate dwelling for his mosque? Well
under the law you couldn't discriminate against him.
. . . As long as his mosque was kept in one house and
he didn't have two separate dwellings," Mrs. Atwood
said.
"So basically you'd have to open it up to everyone
and allow everyone to have two dwellings," Mayor
Atwood said in response.
"Yes. And how do you decide who's disabled enough
or not? That's a lawsuit on your hands," Mrs. Atwood
said.
"And if we tell someone who is disabled that
we can't allow this?" asked the mayor.
"They can sue you but it won't go anywhere. They
won't be able to find it under this law. This law backs
itself up," Mrs. Atwood said.
Planning and Zoning member Ryan Wardle suggested in
the end that the council consider the laws that Mrs.
Atwood brought. He also suggested the council survey
people in Paradise to find out what they think about
the problem. He said that they would go door to door
if necessary.
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