PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Tens of thousands of developmentally and intellectually disabled Floridians are on the state's wait list for community-based services. But in Pasco, families trying to open group homes to serve these vulnerable adults are fighting pushback from the county — being told they need automatic fire sprinkler systems, which can cost upwards of $40,000.
The ABC Action News I-Team first revealed these concerns in December.
Pasco County families fighting to open community homes for adults with developmental disabilities
"I want to make sure when I'm not here, my kids are okay, and I want to make sure everybody around me that has the same disadvantage or disability as my kids, they're going to be okay not worrying," Karen Santiago told the I-Team last year.
Then, walking through the home Danielle Atherton-Bonner is hoping to get up and running as a group home, she told the I-Team she has been stalled since September.
"To think that these beds might remain empty, it's heartbreaking and it's frustrating and appalling," Atherton-Bonner said at the time.
Now, more than seven months after the I-Team first met Atherton-Bonner, she has filed a lawsuit against Pasco County, alleging discrimination on the basis of disability, while the county said the fire sprinkler system requirement is about safety.
The I-Team met with a woman left waiting for Atherton-Bonner's home to open, as she searched for a place to help care for her son.
Latania Moore said she hasn't had close family nearby since she moved to Florida.
"It's just me and my son," she said.
Her son, Jelani, is about to turn 28 years old.
“He has autism,” Moore said, who explained her son cannot live on his own. “Like God forbid something happens to me tomorrow, where would that leave him? Where would that leave him at?”
Moore is trying to plan for a future that is uncertain.
“My health is not that great but I’m trying to hold on, I’m taking it day by day,” she said.
For more than a thousand days, since she moved to Florida in 2021, she’s searched for a group home to help care for her son and improve his quality of life.
“I’m still looking for something permanent for him to be involved in, or need places like this to open up where they could come for the day or to live, to make it easy on the parent because we do go through a lot,” Moore told the I-Team. “So when I spoke to Danielle, she was like, she wanted to open up things like this to help people like me.”
Atherton-Bonner filed the complaint against the county for “imposing overly restrictive fire code requirements that are not imposed on similarly situation uses within Pasco County.”
“I feel like I’m not doing my job. I’m not providing what I promised to provide for the community. And it’s not because I don’t want to. It’s because I’m not being allowed to,” she told the I-Team.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) is responsible for inspecting homes like the one Atherton-Bonner is trying to open, known as “community residential homes” and includes fire safety requirements.
“This could literally be your child, my child, me, you, we could have some type of traumatic brain injury and end up in the same exact cognitive state as a lot of these people that are born this way,” Atherton-Bonner said.
State law says community residential homes with six or fewer residents “shall be deemed a single-family unit and a noncommercial residential use for the purpose of local laws.”
This means that her attorney, Adam Bild, argues that a fire sprinkler system should not be required.
"We've had numerous clients, in numerous counties and municipalities, who have faced similar situations. Up until this point, we've always been able to talk with the municipalities and resolve the issues amicably prior to the filing. Litigation,” Bild told the I-Team.
The lawsuit stated that surrounding areas, like Hillsborough County, and cities in Pinellas County, “…do not impose similar requirements.”
“This is a reflection of society and how we treat them. I would add, it’s also a reflection on us,” Bild said. “I believe these are the longest waitlists Florida has had. And we are not doing an adequate job in placing individuals in the homes, and the biggest reason I see for that is that there aren't enough homes.”
“I just pray on it and hoping that something will turn over soon for him,” Moore said, talking about her son. “And for people with disabilities to have something like this open up for them.”
Bild told the I-Team he has other clients who have received a letter from Pasco County giving deadlines to install fire sprinklers. He warned that without changes, more group homes could close.
Pasco County would not agree to an interview due to pending litigation but confirmed that there are currently 70 group homes operating in the county under APD.
A county public information officer said in an email, "All new group home applicants are required to protect the property with a sprinkler system before a certificate of occupancy can be issued. Only twice has Pasco County offered a one-year compliance order — in both cases, new group homes bought existing group homes."
When asked about the sprinkler requirement, the PIO said, "In 2010, the Florida Building Code was updated to mandate that larger care facilities (R4) could meet the Residential Code, as long as it was supplied with a sprinkler system. In 2014, this requirement was extended to include smaller care facilities (R3) as well, ensuring they, too, must have a sprinkler system... Approved homes prior to these updates can continue to operate without a sprinkler system unless changes in location or ownership trigger compliance with current code requirements."
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