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Group Homes in Margate
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Saturday,
June 6, 2009
A move by Florida lawmakers to disband large, understaffed and under-qualified assisted living facilities in Florida has resulted in group care facilities popping up in single-family neighborhoods across the state.
Although one could hardly argue that mentally-challenged citizens, the disabled and elderly, and those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction deserve access to quality residential living, it appears that Margate has a concentration of these facilities (38 in all), twenty-six percent of which may be in violation of the state’s 1000-foot rule, the site selection rule that determines the minimum distance between facilities in order to maintain the good “nature and character” of a residential community. [View Map of Group Homes in Margate.]
In plotting the location of these homes on Margate’s zoning map, a total ten facilities may violate the 1000-foot rule. [Click here to find out if there's a group home on your street.]
Municipalities, such as Margate, are virtually powerless in stopping group homes from opening unless a home is within 1000-feet of another group home, or the home doesn’t comply with local zoning codes. And no laws are in place to notify residents that group homes are opening unless residents stay abreast of city meeting agendas, such as those for the city’s Development Review Committee and City Commission.
“There’s not a damn thing he [Commissioner Joe Varsallone] can do about a group home opening because we parents are going to see that more are planned and built so our children can function independently when we are gone,” stated Suzanne Gay of Coral Springs in an email to Margate city officials.
Gay has a mentally-challenged son and took exception to comments made at a May 2008 city commission meeting when commissioners at the time were attempting to revise city laws to better accommodate Margate neighborhoods in which group homes exist.
Florida Statute 419 provides the framework for which a group home, or Group Care Facility, must follow. Other than a basic background check and following the requisite application and licensing procedures, it seems that just about anyone can open a group home in Florida.
Good-natured in their effort to open a facility for disabled adults at 6741 Southwest 3rd Street in the Kimberly Forest section of Margate, operators Carol Leigh and Natasha Moise found it difficult to answer questions posed by Margate’s Development Review Committee during a recent hearing. They seemed unsure as to the number of group home residents that would be living in the 4 bedroom house and whether the house met the city’s fire, safety and general occupancy criteria. Leigh said her daughter owned the house, but wouldn’t be living there.
Margate resident, Patricia Epstein, lives directly across from a group home on 79th Avenue. On a regular basis, she says, the school bus coming to the home blocks her driveway and she can’t get to work on time – sometimes having to wait 15 minutes or more. She says the bus drivers have been rude, the bus company told her to call the police and city officials keep postponing a long-awaited meeting with her to work out the problem.
In response, Margate City Manager, Frank Porcella said city officials met with Epstein initially and she didn't like the fact that the city's hands were tied at the state level. Since, Margate police have issued citations and warnings for problems with group home parking and, after taking pictures of the bus loading and unloading in front of the group home, found it no different from what any other school bus requires. City officials have scheduled another meeting with Epstein this month.
Although Florida Statute 419 lays down the guidelines for group homes, it applies little oversight, other than making group home operators swear under oath that they continue to follow guidelines when their license is up for renewal – even though state and federal funds, such as the Medicaid Home and Community-Based Waiver support the group home effort.
Potential group home operators in Margate are not required by law to notify neighbors in the area that they are opening, nor are they required to post signage indicating a group home. The majority currently in operation appear well-maintained on the outside with few exceptions. Many are operated by for-profit corporations and a few are homesteaded, which may be a violation of law if the owner does not live on-site.
Article updated on June 8, 2009
Dr. Sabrina Segal contributed to this report.
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Copyright Cassius Group 2009
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