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Temporary Family HealthCare Dwellings <br />June 27, 2016 <br />Page 2 <br />Although not necessarily a legal issue for the city, it seemsworth mentioning that the <br />permit process does not have the individual with the physical or mental impairmentor that <br />individual’s power of attorney sign the permit application or a consent to releasehis or her <br />data. <br />The application’s data requirementsmay result in the city possessing and maintaining <br />nonpublic data governed by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. <br />3 <br />The new law sets forth a permitting system for both cities and counties. Cities should <br />consider whether there is an interplay between these two statutes. <br />Do cities need to do anything to have the new law apply in their city? <br />No, <br />the law goes into effect Sept.1, 2016 and automatically applies to all cities that do not optout <br />or don’t already allowtemporary family health care dwellingsas apermitted useunder their local <br />ordinances. <br />Do cities lose the option to opt out after the Sept. 1, 2016 effective date? <br />No <br />, the law does not set a deadline for optingout,socities can opt out afterSept.1, 2016. <br />However, if the city has not opted out by Sept.1, 2016, then the city mustnot onlyhave <br />4 <br />determined a permit fee amountbefore that date(if the city wants to have an amount different <br />than the law’s default amount),but also must be ready on that date to accept applications and <br />process the permits in accordance with the short timeline required by the law.Cities should consult <br />theircity attorney to analyze how to handle applications submitted after Sept.1, 2016,butstill <br />pending at the time of a later opt out. <br />What if a city already allows a temporary family health care dwelling as a <br />permitted use? <br />If the city already has designated temporary family health care dwellings as a permitted use, then <br />the law does not apply and the city follows its own ordinance.The city should consult its city <br />attorney forany uncertainty about whetherstructures currently permittedunder existing ordinances <br />qualify as temporary family health care dwellings. <br />What process should the city follow if it chooses to opt out of this statute? <br />Cities that wish to opt out of this lawmust pass an ordinance to do so. The statute does not provide <br />clear guidance on how to treat this opt-out ordinance. However, since the new law adds section <br />462.3593 to the land useplanning act (Minn. Stat. ch.462), arguably, it mayrepresentthe adoption <br />or an amendment of azoning ordinance, triggeringtherequirements of Minn. Stat. § 462.357, <br />subd. 2-4, includingapublic hearing with 10-day published notice. Therefore, cities may want to <br />5 <br />erron the side of caution and treat the opt-out ordinance as azoningprovision. <br />3 <br />See Minn. Stat. §394.307 <br />4 <br />Cities do have flexibility as to amounts of the permit fee. The law sets, as a default,a fee of$100 for the initial <br />permit with a $50 renewal fee, but authorizes a city to provideotherwise by ordinance. <br />5 For smaller communities without zoning at all, those cities still need to adopt an opt-out ordinance. In those <br />instances, it seems less likely that the opt-out ordinance would equate to zoning. Because of the ambiguity of the <br />