Adult Foster Care: Restrictive Zoning Law Declared Unconstitutional
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
November 1995
Quick Summary: A state law in Michigan was ruled unconstitutional which required the state licensing agency, before granting licensing approval to an adult foster care facility, to notify the governmental body responsible for zoning decisions in the city, town or village where the proposed adult foster care facility was to be located, at least forty-five days before granting any such license. The purpose of the law was to enable the city, town or village in turn to notify all property owners within 1500 feet of the proposed adult foster care facility, presumably to give property owners the opportunity to challenge the local zoning changes needed to permit the facility to commence operations.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Michigan ruled that there was no rational basis for such a restrictive requirement for licensing an adult foster care facility. Further, it ruled that this legal requirement could not be tolerated as it would have a disparate impact on persons with disabilities. There was also a blatant conflict between the state law and the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, which outlaws housing discrimination against disabled persons, a conflict which would have to be resolved in favor of the supremacy of Federal law.
Larkin vs. State of Michigan, 883 F. Supp. 172 (E.D. Mich., 1994).