The city of Meridian is working to clarify language in its ordinances about what types of group home facilities require special permits and where such facilities are allowed to operate.

 

In a public hearing on the proposed ordinance changes Tuesday, Kevin Locke, a planner with the city’s Community Development department, said the proposed change to the city’s ordinance is intended to clear up some problems his department has had with group facilities.

 

Meridian has several classes of group homes. Class A through D are group homes that deal with handicapped, disabled or older residents who are unable to care for themselves. Class E homes, however, are for rehabilitation and reentry services, sometimes called halfway houses, Locke said.

 

“It’s the Class E, which is that halfway house, that we’re having a problem with,” he said.

 

In an Oct. 15 City Council meeting, Community Development Director Craig Hitt explained the changes to the ordinance would require all classes of group homes get a state license and a special use permit. Under the city’s current ordinance, only homes with four or more people are required to have a license.

 

“Currently, that’s the way the ordinance reads,” he said. “We’re asking that if they have one or more they be licensed, and then that regulates how many can be in each bedroom and each facility.”

 

Under the city’s zoning laws, Class E group homes cannot operate out of single family homes, but the city has been hard pressed to enforce that as, with no specific licensing requirement, the group homes can set up and operate without the city knowing.

 

“We don’t even know where they all are right now, quite frankly, until we get a complaint,” Hitt said.

 

Class E Group homes also are prohibited from being located within 500 feet of a residence, school, park or playground, child care facility or another Class E group home, the city’s current ordinance states.

 

A bill to tighten licensing requirements for group homes was introduced in the state Legislature earlier this year, Hitt said, but it did not successfully become law. With the bill’s failure, municipalities were encouraged to take action at the local level, he said, which is what the city is trying to do.

 

Councilman Dwayne Davis said his concern with the change is that the city, having given some group homes a privilege license, also called a business license, will now be going back to businesses it has already approved to tell them they cannot operate at their current location. The city already gave these group homes permission, and now its changing its mind, he said.

 

The City Council recently heard from members of the East Mississippi REALTORs Association about proposed changes to the city’s ordinance around rental housing, Davis said, and those real estate agents are communicating with the city to help avoid pitfalls the changes could bring. Why, he asked, have the owners and operators of group homes not been included in the conversation as well.

 

Councilman Joe Norwood Jr. said he too is concerned that the change would not grandfather in existing businesses, and those currently operating may be told they must shut down or relocate.

 

No one from the public or representatives from group homes spoke and council members closed the hearing without taking action.