Photo by Jason A. Smith Connie Dodgen (right), of Hampton, was recently joined by several individuals who spoke out against placing additional restrictions on personal-care homes in Henry. Dodgen said such restrictions would limit the care given to people with special needs.

McDONOUGH Efforts are ongoing in Henry County to clarify requirements for operating personal care homes.

A pending ordinance on the subject has generated debate regarding whether to allow such facilities in residential neighborhoods, according to Henry County Planning & Zoning Director, Cheri Hobson-Matthews. Currently, personal-care homes can have up to three clients in a residentially-zoned district as a home occupation, or up to four clients in residential-agricultural district, as a non-home occupation, she said.

Officials are seeking to determine if the original intent of the countys personal-care home ordinance was to allow the homes to operate inside a subdivision, and to discern how many clients and employees are appropriate in those areas.

With some inconsistencies regarding the utilization of properties for a personal-care home as a home occupation, versus a non-home occupation, Hobson-Matthews said she and her staff felt that it was pertinent to clear up any ambiguities that the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) presented.

A moratorium, enacted in March, remains in place that gives staffers the opportunity to review and revise the ULDC and Comprehensive Plan, as they relates to the location of personal-care homes within single-family residential districts. It also regulates the development and standards of personal-care homes located anywhere within unincorporated Henry County.

We have not accepted any applications for personal-care homes in unincorporated Henry County, Hobson-Matthews said. The cities have not enacted a moratorium.

Hobson-Matthews said prior to the moratorium, the county did not have adequate licensing measures in place for personal-care home applications.

We wanted to make sure that were incorporating rules and regulations that would protect not only property owners, but individual clients and citizens who utilize personal-care homes for their personal-care services, she said.

A personal-care home can go into an area where they apply for a business license, and there is no further notification, said Hobson-Matthews. Its not like an alcohol license, where you have notify property owners. Its not like a zoning matter, where we have to notify all the affected property owners.

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Where to place personal care home debated in Henry