Applicant William Davis came to the Development Services Department of the City of Gillette seeking a permit for a handicap ramp. During the permitted process, it was discovered that the two properties that Mr. Davis has purchased did not allow for a Group Care Facility in the zoning districts that the properties are in. Mr. Davis informed Planning Staff that he had just recently purchased a business that had been in operation in Gillette for 26 years (1997). Once the business purchase had closed, the State of Wyoming Medicaid Development Disability Waiver Program informed Mr. Davis that the program had changed from allowing eight (8) residents per dwelling to four (4) residents, and that the existing properties being used were not in compliance but had been “grandfathered in”. Since the business had changed owners, the grandfather status was no longer applicable, and he had to move two residents out immediately. Mr. Davis quickly purchased a home in a zoning district that he believed to allow Group Care Facilities and began modifications required by the Medicaid Development Disability Waiver Program. The final step was getting a ramp installed to the front of the home. This is when Mr. Davis came to the city to get proper permits for the handicap and was told that his business is not a Permitted Use within the zoning district and one of the established Group Care Facilities in a different home was also not a Permitted Use within that Zoning District. After speaking with Planning Staff, Mr. Davis determined that he would submit a text amendment to modify the existing Group Care Facility definition as well as include Group Care Facility as a Permitted Use in two additional zoning districts. Below is what is being proposed:

-        Remove the “not-for-profit” requirement in the definition of Group Care Facility

-        Include Group Care Facility as a Permitted Use in E-MH, Enhanced Manufactured Home District, and M-H, Mobile Home District

Group Care Facilities are currently only a Permitted Use in R-2, Single and Two-Family Residential District, and R-3, Single and Multi-Family Residential District.

The reason provided in his application for a Zoning Text Amendment is as follows:

“Managers of group care facilities in our community are at present constrained in their ability to locate and purchase suitable, certifiable housing for disabled individuals. Current zoning restrictions, in combination with the high cost of real estate, have resulted in housing insecurity for these vulnerable members of our community. Modification of existing zoning restrictions would enable current, disabled residents to continue to live in the environments to which they have become accustomed and attached and will enable operators of group care facilities to provide affordable, accessible housing for these persons with no adverse effects on surrounding property owners. The residents of these homes do not, and will not, pose a danger to the surrounding community, and broadening their access to the entire community will result in their living fuller, richer lives.”

The Planning Commission is considering two proposals for this case:

-        The Definition of Group Care Facility

-        Zoning Districts to include Group Care Facility as a Permitted Use

The City Council will consider the proposed Zoning Text Amendment as a Public Hearing and First Reading at their meeting which is scheduled for December 19, 2023.

Staff Recommendation 

Staff recommends approval of Mr. Davis’s proposed text amendment.

Staff requests Planning Commission to consider Staff’s Recommendation of the Definition of Group Care Facility as well as the recommendation for Group Care Facilities to be allowed as a Permitted Use in the following districts in addition to the R-2 and R-3 districts:

-        R-R, Rural Residential District

-        R-S, Suburban Residential District

-        R-1, Single-Family Residential District

-        R-4, Multi-Family Residential District

-        M-H, Mobile Home District

-        E-MH, Enhanced Manufactured Home District

-        E-MH R-S, Enhanced Manufactured Suburban Residential District

Staff’s recommendation of modifying the definition of Group Care Facility to include allowing programs that actively participate and are in compliance with the State of Wyoming Medicaid Development Disability Waiver Program to be included as a business type along with the existing not-for-profit business model. Furthermore, staff recommends removing “The current illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance is neither a handicap nor a disability” and replace it with “All uses stated in the definition of Halfway House are not permissible and are considered outside the scope of the definition of Group Care Facility”.

Staff has included in your packet the following items:

·        The current full definition of Group Care Facility, Mr. Davis’s Proposed Definition of Group Care Facility, Staff’s Proposed Definition of Group Care Facility

·        Three Exhibits: Existing zoning districts that allow for Group Care Facilities as a Permitted Use, Mr. Davis’s Existing and proposed districts to allow for Group Care Facilities, and Staff’s Proposed map to include Group Care Facilities in all residential zoning districts.

·        Staff Analysis on Group Care Facilities and their Allowance in All Residential Zoning Districts.

This case was approved by the Planning Commission during their December 12, 2023, meeting with a vote of 5/0.

Option 1: Mr. Davis Proposed Text Amendment

I move for Approval of an Ordinance to Amend Section 16 – Definitions, Group Care Facility, of the City of Gillette Zoning Ordinance and to Authorize Group Care Facility as a Permitted Use as Section 6.h.(2)(j); 6.i.(2)(m) of the City of Gillette Zoning Ordinance.

Option 2: Staff Proposed Text Amendment

I move for Approval of an Ordinance to Amend Section 16 – Definitions, Group Care Facility, of the City of Gillette Zoning Ordinance and to Authorize Group Care Facility as a Permitted Use as Section 6.b.(2)(l); 6.c.(2)(m); 6.d.(2)(p); 6.g.(2)(y); 6.j.(2)(n); 6.h.(2)(j); 6.i.(2)(m) of the City of Gillette Zoning Ordinance.