Group Home Legislation Applauded

County agencies that last September criticized the city's efforts to regulate housing for developmentally disabled people this week cheered Strongsville's revised legislation.

William Denihan, former Cleveland safety director who now is CEO of the county's Alcohol, Drug Addition and Mental Health Services Board, said he appreciated how the city handled "what could have been a very controversial issue."

It was a different story in September, when crowds packed Council Chambers to protest the city's updated guidelines on group homes.

At that time, the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities and the ADAMHS board challenged eight parts of the regulations, including a plan to keep group homes out of multi-family zoning districts and requiring round-the-clock supervision of developmentally disabled people in the residential care facilities.

Some residents at the meeting took the other side of the issue, worrying that group homes could lower housing values in a neighborhood and pose parking problems.

But officials from both county agencies thanked Strongsville and Law Director Ken Kraus for working with them on revising the ordinance, which council passed 6-0 Monday.

"I wanted to thank you personally for all the work you've don on this ordinance," said Terrence Ryan, superintendent of the developmental disabilities board.

Kraus said the city did not intend to ruffle feathers when it updated its group home legislation to follow federal guidelines last year.

"We've had group homes and community-based residential facilities here for a very long time," he said.

But he said the county officials "raised some legitimate issue" that he and Assistant Law Director Dan Kolick worked on with the agencies for the last several months.