Resolution 8090006.140.011
WSS /are
11/28/94
R: 1/26/95
RESOLUTION NO. 8 0 9
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
EDMONDS, WASHINGTON, REQUESTING THE
PARTICIPATION AND ASSISTANCE OF THE ASSOCIATION
OF WASHINGTON CITIES AND THE NATIONAL LEAGUE
OF CITIES IN CLARIFYING THE CONTINUED VIABILITY
OF CITIES' ZONING POWERS REGARDING SINGLE
FAMILY ZONING IN LIGHT OF THE FAIR HOUSING ACT
AMENDMENTS.
WHEREAS, in 1926 the United States Supreme Court established in Euclid v.
Amber Realty that a City may constitutionally establish a single family neighborhood permitting
single family homes while excluding other residential uses, commercial and noncommercial, such
as apartment buildings and rooming houses, and
WHEREAS, the City Council affirmed this principle in Village of Belle Terre v.
Boraas stating that it is a permissible governmental objective to secure a place "of quiet
seclusion" for families by excluding groups of unrelated adults from single family
neighborhoods, and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court set an additional boundary for the
City's power in Moore v. City of East Cleveland by prohibiting cities from regulating a family
relationship based on blood or marriage within the definition of a single family zone, and
WHEREAS, the principles were in place almost 50 years prior to the enactment
of the Fair Housing Act Amendments in 1988, and
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WHEREAS, the Fair Housing Act Amendments exclude "reasonable occupancy
limits" from coverage under the Act, and
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Health and Urban Services, the
United States Government and other entities continue to assert in a variety of litigation that
because consensual living arrangements and group homes may not be located in most traditional
single family neighborhoods, the definition of single family neighborhood therefore illegally
discriminates against the disabled under the Fair Housing Act Amendments, and
WHEREAS, the City of Edmonds has challenged that ruling and will argue its
position before the United States Supreme Court in March of 1995, now, therefore,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON,
HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council and Mayor of the City of Edmonds hereby request
that the Association of Washington Cities establish as one of its lobbying priorities the repeal
or clarification of a provision passed in 1993 and codified at RCW 35A.63.240. This ambiguous
provision appears to attempt to paraphrase a portion of the Congressional Record regarding the
Fair Housing Act Amendments. Its wording, specifically its references to "residential
structures," "family" and "persons with handicaps" unnecessarily complicates a situation soon
to be resolved by the United States Supreme Court. The City of Edmonds respectfully requests
that the Association of Washington Cities place as one of its priorities the repeal or clarification
of this provision.
Section 2. The Mayor and City Council of the City of Edmonds express their
support for the efforts of the Village of Palatine, Illinois and its Mayor Rita Mullins to bring
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about clarification of the purpose and intent of "maximum occupancy" limitation contained in
the Fair Housing Act Amendments in a way which clarifies that Congress' intent was to provide
equal rights to the disabled and not to relieve them of the normal obligations confronting all
property owners or renters under local zoning ordinances. Facially valid ordinances which
equally impact similarly situated individuals without regard to disability should and must be
upheld in order to provide continued meaning to the concept of single family zoning. Single
family zoning is a resource to be protected for families as well as reasonable numbers of
unrelated adults without regard to disability. The continued confusion of reasonable
classifications such as single family and multiple family zoning does not further the rights of
disabled persons in any reasonable way and undercuts the entire concept of single family zoning.
The City of Edmonds continues its recognition of the right of any disabled person to reside in
Edmonds free of discrimination in the zone applicable to the disabled person's use of property.
RESOLVED this 31stday of January , 199 5
APPROVED:
ATTEST /AUTHENTICATED :
. • �.
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: 1/26/95
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: 1/31/95
RESOLUTION NO. 809
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