'Rooming houses' zoning amendment approved

Following an hour-long public hearing on Thursday, Jan. 5, the Springfield Selectboard voted unanimously to adopt proposed amendments to Springfield zoning bylaws intended to bolster safety and regulation of local rooming houses.

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2017-01-07 / Front Page 'Rooming houses' zoning amendment approved By TORY JONES toryb@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — Following an hour-long public hearing on Thursday, Jan. 5, the Springfield Selectboard voted unanimously to adopt proposed amendments to Springfield zoning bylaws intended to bolster safety and regulation of local rooming houses. “We’re regulating a type of housing that is problematic at times,” said selectboard member George McNaughton. McNaughton made the motion to adopt the amendments as presented. He also moved, separately, to adopt a Findings of Fact document with nine findings based on prior rooming house amendment hearings. The selectboard also unanimously approved that adoption. About 10 Springfield residents attended the hearing and regular meeting on Thursday. Several attendees, including an attorney for Vermont Legal Aid, a parent of adults living in a local rooming house, and a local landlord, voiced a range of opinions both in favor of and opposed to the amendments. Some suggested the amendments may not meet federal Fair Housing regulations. Others at the meeting voiced concern over lack of regulation, programs, or staffing in housing designated for people in recovery and people with disabilities. McNaughton made it clear that the proposed amendments for rooming houses applies specifically to regulating commercial structures, and not to who is living in them. The hearing was “not a referendum on rehabilitation,” or on sober houses, he said. “This is a regulation on a specific type of commercial housing,” he said. “It will not prevent, nor is it intended to prevent, the creation of sober houses or anything like that.” McNaughton said that it is, to some extent, a regulation on blight. The selectboard is “regulating the type of housing that is more like a motel or an inn,” he said. Rooming houses are a type of commercial housing that occasionally pop up during hard times, he said. The amendments to the zoning bylaws have nothing to do with disabilities or recovery, McNaughton said. Selectboard Chair Kristi Morris said he feels the selectboard did not want to be responsible for legislation based on impulse and emotion, which is why it has been a long process. Morris said the selectboard has been “receptive” to the public comments that have come out of a half-dozen public hearings — each time the wording was changed or pieces added or removed. While the zoning bylaw may not be perfect, it is “better now,” he said. The Springfield Zoning Regulations amendments were modified from the last hearing in December to remove a reference to a 1,000-foot rule between rooming houses, and to update rooming house and family unit definitions referring to non-transient persons and the number of persons living in a building. It now includes a new definition of a rooming house and family unit, and a new Section 3.29 that covers rules for Conditional Use Review and Site Plan Review. It also includes a 2-year grandfathering for owners registering a nonconforming rooming house that existed prior to the amendments’ adoption. Based on the list of nine Findings of Fact presented on Thursday, as a result of all prior rooming house amendment hearings, rooming houses are “just not regulated,” said selectboard member Peter McGillivray. The Findings of Fact included the current definition of rooming houses. It also states that rooming houses in their current form are a commercial operation, without any regulation under the town’s zoning and planning department, and with more in common with motels and inns than with multi-family apartments and single-family units rented under a single lease to a group of individuals. This type of housing has issues that present special health and safety concerns and the potential for spreading blight, according to the Findings of Fact. It also recognizes citizen concern regarding the “perceived connection between rooming houses and the opioid epidemic and other substance abuse issues within the town,” but adds that while such issues are a concern to the town, the are “not the basis, purpose, or concern of the proposed regulations.” Federal law also requires that reasonable accommodations be made for individuals on a case-by-case basis, for all types of housing, and those issues can be dealt with through a specific waiver or a conditional use hearing, all according to the adopted Findings of Fact. The document also states that the selectboard find the language of the regulation “is not discriminatory on its face.” It states that requiring a conditional use permit for commercial rooming houses is “consistent with protecting the general health and safety of the citizens,” including rooming house occupants, and would not prevent disabled persons from living in any form of housing they desire and can afford. From a public safety standpoint, the selectboard’s concern is some single-family residences, which are not regulated by the Zoning Review Board, but that are acting as rooming houses, Morris said at the hearing. Morris said the wording in the amendments does not try to purposely discriminate against anyone. Bill Kearns, planning and zoning administrator for the town of Springfield, said that it would not make sense that the town regulates apartments, but not single-family houses operating as rooming houses. “It is the right of the community to make things safe,” he said. The new amendments will go into effect in 21 days, according to Morris. The amendments and full zoning regulations will be available at www.springfieldvt.govoffice2.com, or by visiting the municipal office.