Goal: to weed out ‘boarding houses’ and other improper residential uses

Fayette County may soon become the first county in Georgia to regulate personal care homes.

Faced with complaints about homes in single-family subdivisions being converted to personal care homes, County Attorney Scott Bennett has been researching the best way to handle the issue.

Bennett told the County Commission last week that he doesn’t think the county can forbid personal care homes from operating in residential neighborhoods because of federal fair housing regulations. But the county does have the power to regulate personal care homes, he added.

Bennett said that some of the complaints received by the county may have been due to homes that were operating as boarding houses and not personal care homes. He noted that the county has an ordinance that forbids more than four unrelated people from living in a home.

The proposed regulations are not codified into ordinance form yet, Bennett said. He is proposing a licensing process that would require a building inspection, a fire marshal inspection and for fingerprints to be taken of the owner/operator of a personal care home for a criminal background check. Facilities would also be required to meet environmental health regulations, Bennett said.

There would also be restrictions that no crime be committed on premises including fraud, and no alcohol can be on the premises if the administrator previously has had alcohol problems, Bennett said.

Bennett also said if the county’s personal care home rules were to be flaunted, the county would have the power to shut a facility down and revoke its license. The first appeal of a revocation would be to the county administrator and the final appeal would be to the Superior Court.

Commissioner Eric Maxwell said he didn’t like the idea of approving personal home care regulation because it would be “tacitly giving our approval for things like this to come into the community.”

Bennett said the regulations had a different goal.

“These regulations were designed to insure that every personal care home out there is legitimate and not a front for a boarding house or a halfway house,” Bennett said.

Personal care homes are designed to provide care for people living with disabilities so they can avoid an institutional environment.

“It’s an alternative to going to a nursing home,” Bennett said.

Commission Chairman Jack Smith asked why the county couldn’t deem personal care homes a business and keep them out of residential areas altogether.

Bennett replied that restrictions in the federal Fair Housing Act and Americans With Disabilities Act would prohibit such action.

“I believe a court would say you’re discriminating against someone because they have a disability,” Bennett said.

Commissioner Robert Horgan asked about complaints such as residents of a personal care home “walking around a neighborhood.”

Bennett replied that complaints such as trespassing should be handled by a law enforcement officer.