Carr v. Upper Pinellas Ass’n for Retarded Citizens (UPARC)

(Fla. 2d DCA), reported in 11 ABA Mental & Phys. Disability L. Rptr. 341 (1987)

We defended a service provider for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities against an attempt to block the establishment of a group home in a residential district. The trial court’s holding that group homes can be barred by a deed restriction limiting use of subdivision property to single families was unsuccessfully appealed. Subsequent legislation in the Florida 1989 session, known as the Community Residential Homes Act, created a new Chapter 419 and alleviated the problem of barriers to siting of group homes for disabled citizens. Certain group homes were granted the right to site in certain residential districts. For certain other residential districts, a procedure was enacted to minimize possible discriminatory animus toward residents of group homes.