Bean to Council/Freedom House DenialFROM
<TUETRUQ 3 2010 91:28ZST. 9l:27/No. 7U304G 506 P 9
MONTANA FAIR HOUSING
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Butter MT 59701
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FROM
(TUE)AUQ 3 2010 11:28ZST. 11:27/No. 7530468608 P 2
AL AL
ONTANA 519 East Front Street * Butte, MT 59701
Voice: (406) 782-2573 J 800-929-2611
FAIR Montana Relay: 711 * FAX: (406) 782-2781
HOUSING Website: www.montanafairhousing.org
E-mail: inquiry@montanafairhousing.org
August 3, 2010
Mayor Tammi Fisher
City Council Members
City of Kalispell
502 Second Avenue East
Kalispell, MT 59901
RE: Freedom House of Kalispell, Inc.
1128 Third Avenue West
Kalispell, MT 59901
Dear Mayor Fisher and Council Members:
Montana Fair Housing is in receipt of copies of correspondence between Mr. Harball, City
Attorney, and Mr. Polin, Attorney at Law. In addition, we have also discussed the issues
addressed in the correspondence with Randy Marr of the Freedom House Board of Directors.
Montana Fair Housing is a private, not for profit, full service fair housing organization
dedicated to the eradication of housing discrimination in Montana. To this end, we provide
education, outreach, and enforcement activities for housing providers and consumers.
Following review of Mr. Polin's letter, dated April 29, 2010, it is our position that Mr. Polin aptly
outlined the provisions of the Federal Fair Housing Act addressing issues arising in regards to
the operation of Freedom House. It is also our belief that Mr. Polin's correspondence served
as a request for a reasonable accommodation for waiver of the City's Conditional Use Permit
process. Mr. Harball's letter to Mr. Polin serves as a denial for the request.
MONTANA CODE ANNOTATED, section 76-2-412, provides guidance as to the relationship
between foster homes, kinship foster homes, youth shelter care facilities, youth group homes,
community residential facilities, and day-care homes to local zoning ordinances:
(1) A foster home, kinship foster home, youth shelter care facility, or youth group
home operated under the provisions of 52-2-621 through 52-2-623 or a community
residential facility serving eight or fewer persons is considered a residential use of
property for purposes of zoning if the home provides care on a 24-hour-a-day basis.
(2) A family day-care home or a group day-care home registered by the department of
CTUE>AUG 3 2010 11: 2S FST. 11: 27J'No. 7SS04S95OB P 3
public health and human services under Title 52, chapter 2, part 7, is considered a
residential use of property for purposes of zoning.
(3) The facilities listed in subsections (1) and (2) are a permitted use in all residential
zones, including but not limited to residential zones for single-family dwellings. Any
safety or sanitary regulation of the department of public health and human services or
any other agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state that is not
applicable to residential occupancies in general may not be applied to a community
residential facility serving 8 or fewer persons or to a day-care home serving 12 or
fewer children.
(4) This section may not be construed to prohibit a city or county from requiring a
conditional use permit in order to maintain a home pursuant to the provisions of
subsection (1) if the home is Areased by the department of public health and human
services. A city or county may not require a conditional use permit in order to maintain
a day-care home registered by the department of public health and human services.
It is the position of Montana Fair Housing, as we currently understand the facts arising in this
case, that the City of Kalispell is declining to comply with the above provisions.
In addition, the Montana Human Rights Act at 49-2-305(4) and 49-2-305(5b) prohibits
discrimination against persons with disabilities and the denial of requests for reasonable
accommodations. Equally important, under the Governmental Code of Fair Practices, the city,
as a local governmental agency, has a mandatory duty under 49-3-204(1) "to take
appropriate action in the exercise of its licensing or regulatory power as will assure equal
treatment of all persons, eliminate discrimination, and enforce compliance with the policy"
prohibiting the denial of equal opportunities to persons because of "race, color, religion,
creed, political ideas, sex, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, or national origin."
The City`s denial of the requested accommodation cannot be said to conform with those
fundamental and important state policies.
Montana Fair Housing would encourage your office to review the denial of a request for a
reasonable accommodation dated May 18, 2010. I look forward to hearing from you soon and
resolving this matter.
Sincerely,
Pam Bean
Executive Director