PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — People in Pasco County are fighting to open homes for adults with developmental disabilities.
The county says it's about safety. Meanwhile, advocates say building officials aren't following state law as beds meant for vulnerable adults in need remain empty.
As of January, more than 22,000 Floridians are on the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) waitlist for community-based services.
Families fight to maintain care for loved ones with developmental disabilities
Karen Santiago worries about two of her children, who will need assistance when the time comes that she and her husband are no longer alive or physically able to care for their kids as they grow old.
“Asa, she is eight years old, beautiful girl. She was born premature, which led to the cerebral palsy she has now," Santiago said.
Her son Quincy, who is seven, has autism.
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“He is a very affectionate kid," Santiago said. “As other parents are looking for their kids, making sure they go to college, making sure they have their future ahead of them still, preparing them — this is my kid’s future.”
Santiago met with the I-Team in a home she and her husband bought to open what's known as a community residential home under APD.
“I dipped into my 401k to purchase the home, and then my husband dipped into his to renovate it," Santiago said.
The mother of three told the I-Team she wants to provide a home that's a safe space 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 everyone around me that has the same disadvantage or disability as my kids — they’re going to be okay," Santiago said. "Not worry, you know? Have no concerns. Not be scared.”
As Santiago looks ahead, right now, she's working three jobs to keep her family afloat as the beds remain empty. As she was preparing to open the home, Pasco County delivered a blow, telling her that she needs fire sprinklers.
“If I still have to get the fire sprinklers, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know," Santiago said.
Danielle Atherton-Bonner is facing the same pushback in Pasco County. She's been stalled since September.
“We’re looking at — at least $40,000 for a commercial sprinkler system in a residential home that’s being used as a residential home," Atherton-Bonner told the I-Team. “This is crazy. This is not compatible with what the law says, with what zoning says, with even what permitting says.”
State law says community residential homes under APD with six or fewer residents "shall be deemed a single-family unit and a noncommercial, residential use for the purpose of local laws."
But Atherton-Bonner and Santiago's homes are being treated as commercial — triggering an indoor sprinkler system requirement.
“Everything has been approved through APD, through compliance with APD, through zoning verification, through Medicaid and Medicare, we’re literally just being stonewalled at this point," Atherton-Bonner said.
For her, this is personal.
“My aunt, she had Down syndrome and was blessed enough to be able to stay home," Atherton-Bonner said. "A lot of these people end up in institutions or nursing homes because their family passes on. Their parents pass on, the people that kept them out of the system pass on. And so they literally become homeless."
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Atherton-Bonner said how Pasco County has handled this isn't right.
"I knew it was not something I could just say, 'okay, well, they’re not going to help us; let’s move on,'" she said.
Atherton-Bonner hired a former APD employee, Mitch Turner, as a consultant.
“I’ve kind of made it my job in retirement to help people who want to open these kinds of places," Turner, who has encountered roadblocks with different municipalities before, said. “Most of them think they’re doing it under the ‘I’m protecting these people.' You know, we’re making sure that they’re going to be safe. Well, believe me, the State of Florida makes sure that they’re safe. That’s what I had to do for six years was supervising these homes and making sure that they were run in a safe and healthy manner.”
Turner pointed to Hillsborough County and Orange County as areas that have made the process smoother, creating specific forms for these types of community homes.
Pasco County would not do an interview. Instead, in a statement, it said its "interpretation of the Florida building code aligns with a Florida Attorney General's opinion and a Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation interpretation."
That's an AG opinion from 2008 and an informal, non-binding opinion from a building officials association.
The county said its requirement of an automatic sprinkler system is "in the interest of our community's health and safety."
Attorney Adam Bild, who is representing Atherton-Bonner and Santiago, has taken on other counties using the 15-year-old AG opinion letter to justify their requirements.
“To date, we’ve been completely successful," Bild said. “It is something we only occasionally saw, say, seven years ago. And now we’re seeing on almost a monthly basis.”
"To think that these beds might remain empty," Atherton-Bonner said, "it’s heartbreaking and frustrating and appalling.”
Full Statement from Pasco County:
Pasco County’s interpretation of the Florida Building Code aligns with a Florida Attorney General’s opinion and a Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation interpretation (see attached).
In the interest of our community’s health and safety, Pasco County has determined that community residential homes that fall under Florida Statutes section 419.001(2) are not exempt from the Florida Building Code (FBC). Furthermore, Florida Statutes section 553.73(10) specifically provides for buildings that are exempt from the FBC; however, these types of homes, as described in Section 419.001, are not within the listed buildings exempted from the FBC.
Therefore, the county requires automatic sprinkler systems in these types of care facilities under FBC section 310.5.1.
This story came from a tip. If you have something you'd like the I-Team to investigate, email kylie.mcgivern@wfts.com.
