State Specific Question About: VIRGINIA (VA)

does anyone have legal experience pursuing zoning abuses by a group home operated by the govt?

the company running it has converted it from a group home for 8 independently living female adults to a medium intensive care unit of 8 requiring 4x the staff. this year they eliminated 3-4 residents and use their bedrooms as additional offices... at ieast 9 desks in the building 20-30 employees come and go all day but mostly at night so the co can say that they are servicing the residents (who are asleep) go to daycare during the day.

Met with the co about it and they say it is not under their authority. The state is in charge. The state (VA, offices in Richmond) inspects it annually. that is the extent of their involvement. County citizens pay $1M+ to fund its operation. The pro bono lawyers have devised a way for them to circumvent the zoning laws, for them to operate independently without recourse to the citizens who fund it, much like the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Board) which has been in the news lately.

Need references a good lawyer specializing in this situation and to case law for similar situations.

Thank you!

Zoning allows group homes of up to 8 "beds" (full-time residents) by right. So if there are 8 individuals living there, they have the right to do so.

Staff does not count if they are there taking care of the residents.

I was just hunting land in Richmond Thursday. Small world

Especially small if you live next to 8 people and their caregivers.

thank you for your comments.

what was that licensing seminar last week? for what kind of a license? can I review the material that was covered? I am very interested in becoming better educated in the subject.

there WERE 8 independently living residents in the property when I bought this property. when the law changed, they converted it to a medium intensive care facility so they could claim that they needed more people working at the site.

then they started having training sessions for all of their other houses. they used it as a conference center. 50 cars/day parked out here. the civic assn managed to tone that down to 15 employees/day.

recently the company moved out three or 4 of the residents.. So 4 residents remain. they are now using those BRs as offices plus they have at least 5 desks in the attic office. they are converting the property to their admin building. they have 20-30 employees /day visiting. parties all the time. late not shift changes which keep us up. Such a bad place to own property next to. the VA state law was changed with out notice to this community.

lot of history of zoning law abuses before that became a state law. for example. they made a supply depot out of the house having 2 Sysco tractor trailer trucks deliver supplies every week then 100 employees from their other homes converged here 24 hr/day to pick up.

with the change in VA law, their pro bono attorneys have figured out a strategy to operate the facility without accountability to either the state or county or the taxpayers. This was revealed in a meeting with Arlington co yesterday

do you know of any case law on this matter? do you know any VA attorneys that deal with this? know anyone who has experience in this area? need help here.

it's a freight train out of control.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS. I OWN THE PROPERTY NEXT DOOR - 20FT AWAY FROM THIS PROPERTY. VERY SIMPLIFIED, LOCAL ZONING LAWS STATE THAT YOU CANNOT RUN A BUSINESS ENTERPRISE OUT OF A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY, WHICH IS WHAT THEY ARE DOING. A NON PROFIT CORP RUNS THE PROPERTY. THEY HAVE CONTRACTS WITH THE COUNTY. cOUNTY DENIES RESPONSIBILITY; WILL NOT TAKE A DEFINITIVE STAND ON ZONING LAWS. BASICALLY ALL GOVT OFFICES POINT TO ANOTHER GOVT OFFICE AS BEING RESPONSIBLE, E.G CO OFFICES POINT TO STATE OFFICES. STATE OFFICES POINT TO COUNTY. THE COUNTY OFFICES COVER FOR AND HELP THE NON-PROFIT NOT THE TAX PAYER. THEY LIE THROUGH THEIR TEETH WHILE EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THEY ARE LYING AND WE ARE POWERLESS TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I DON'T WANT NOR DO I HAVE THE $$ TO PAY AN ATTORNEY. THE COUNTY AND THIS CORP HAVE DEEP POCKETS-- THE CORP HAS A LOT OF PRO BONO ATTORNEYS ON THEIR BOARD TO HELP THEM. THEY OFFER THEIR SERVICES FOR FREE. THE CO HELPS THEM B/C THE CO HAS A GOAL SET BY THE STATE AND THE CORP HELPS THEM BE SUCCESSFUL IN ACHIEVING THOSE GOALS SET BY THE STATE. THE TAXPAYER IS OUT IN THE COLD... HAS NO ADVOCATE, THOUGH THEY ARE FUNDING THE WHOLE THING. ITS NOT A DEMOCRACY; IT'S PERVERTED; DICTATED BY THE STATE; AUTOCRATIC. WE HAVE NO RIGHTS THOUGH WE PAY FOR IT-- SEVERAL MILLION $$/YEAR i AM LEARNING.

Licensing laws regarding group homes changed in 2006.

thank you for your comments.

I don't own the property.

it is encroaching on the neighbor quiet enjoyment of our properties with 30 cars and more people every day. do you know of any resource that is available??

The licensing class was put on by the State of Virginia Department of Social Services. Virginia group homes for the elderly were specifically targeted by the Washington Post in an expose written (last year?) and as a result, some of the rules and regulations are changing for Residential Assisted Living Facilities and Residential Living homes (group homes.)

The 8-bed max is a zoning number, not a DSS number - they don't put a maximum on the number of beds, but they do issue regulations on the size of bedrooms, number of occupants per bedroom, number of bathrooms and showers, etc. So taking an existing property and turning it into a RAL is much harder than in the past. Older-style homes do not have bedrooms that meet the size requirements.

And no more grandfathering: if a home that doesn't meet the new standards is sold, the home must now come up to standards or cease to do business.

If the property has turned into a de facto business headquarters rather than a group home, I think legal action is your only recourse.

Try calling the police when it gets too bad. You folks just elected another Dem governor so it looks like your state is leaning toward their philosophy of making money while appearing to help others.

The group that bought my duplex is made up of folks from one particular religion who decided to help others while also helping their mentally disabled children. They make money from the government who supports the housing for these anger management cases. One local rental managed by this group has a sex offender in it. It's right next to one of mine but the guy is really elderly and there are no children in my unit. There are two babies right above him though.

Hi,

thank you for your informative comments. they are very insightful and helpful.

Yes police has been called. nothing changes. Yes I have gigabytes of photos and videos. I have taken them to the civic assn who has arranged meetings with the county. the county supports the facility, not the tax payer. the company that runs the group one moved out 3 or 4 patients of the 8 patients and moved in desks.

The county's response to that our complaint about that is that the patients need more care. These are retarded adults most of whom cannot speak any words, only make noises, loud noises. My response is that this is not the right location for the activity for which they are using the property. This is a very leftist area, NO VA. Taxpayers have little or no rights; government rules all.

The ACLU referral. on what basis, for what exact complaint do you think they would be interested in supporting? Aren't they a very leftist organization? seems like they would perfer to support the down trodden residents in the group home, not the tax payer.

Good suggestions. keep them coming. I ill investigate more online.

So are you against the "retarded adults who make loud noises" or the conversion of the house to an office building with multiple employees coming and going? Your last post muddies the water a little bit.

If the house has been converted to a de facto office building for employees who are not connected with direct care of the remaining residents, you have a zoning issue plain and simple.

thank you WMH. Yes I am aware that the house is there to stay. the objection is not with the retarded rsidents. It is with the management of the property for using it as an admn building. As you say:

If the house has been converted to a de facto office building for employees who are not connected with direct care of the remaining residents, you have a zoning issue plain and simple.

The problem is that the zoning office will do nothing. They In spite of having received many many complaints, the co. zoning office protects the company and the business b/c they help the county meet the state goals for assisted living

Taxpayer has no rights; govt rules all.. that's the way this county works. Arlington Co, VA