Zoning Oxford Houses are considered single family residences for purposes of zoning. This has always been true in practice and since March 12, 1989, the effective date of the 1988 Amendments to the Federal Fair Housing Act, it has been a matter of law.
Those amendments make it unlawful for any jurisdiction to discriminate against congregate living for the disabled. Recovering alcoholics and drug addicts are within the scope of the term "disabled". Therefore, Oxford Houses are not subject to zoning laws regulating the number of unrelated individuals who may live in a single family dwelling. An Oxford House is not a treatment facility. It is simply an alcohol and drug free living environment which provides and opportunity for recovering individuals to live as a family unit focused on the need to change their individual lifestyle to one absolutely free of alcohol and drug use.
There is no need to seek prior approval for leasing to an Oxford
House. Oxford House, Inc., will legally defend any claim of zoning
violation made by localities still unfamiliar with the new federal
law.
Two months after enacting the FHAA, the same Congress enacted
the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which expressly supports group homes for
recovering alcoholics and addicts such as Oxford Houses.
Legally- Oxford House, recovering alcoholics, and addicts have a
right to fair housing.
August, 1995 -- In City of Edmonds v. Oxford House, a
case handled by the ACLU of Washington, the high court ruled that
the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) requires "reasonable
accommodation" in zoning rules that affect the rights of disabled
people to live in communities of their choosing. The ruling supports
the rights of disabled persons to live together in single-family
zones.
Steve Polin, general counsel for Oxford House International, was
one of the attorneys that represented the West Haven house in its
federal lawsuit. "These guys were just looking for a place to put
their lives back together," Polin said. The court’s decision is
important, he says, because it says that the city’s behavior was
motivated by discrimination. "If the city decides to unleash all of
its police powers on unpopular disabled residents," he said, "the
Fair Housing Act and the ADA will be there to provide a remedy."
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Scalise efforts to oppose Oxford House
HUD - People with Disabilities