Zoning Administration
Reasonable Accommodations

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has announced a new City policy that will coordinate and streamline all reasonable accommodation requests that are received by the Office of the Zoning Administrator from supportive homes and State-licensed group homes.

The new policy provides clear standards and guidelines for care providers when requesting reasonable accommodations from the Office of the Zoning Administrator.   In particular, it details how the office will evaluate reasonable accommodation requests from homes serving persons with disabilities to waive the Baltimore City Zoning Code's definition of "family". Absent a reasonable accommodation, the City's Zoning Code allows up to 4 unrelated persons to reside in a traditional single-family dwelling. With an approved reasonable accommodation, that number could be exceeded.

Federal law provides that "persons with disabilities" are persons who: (1) have any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more "major life activities; (2) have a record of having the impairment; or (3) are regarded by others as having the impairment.