DRP Obtains Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act for Child with Disabilities Allowing Family to Install a Fence

DRP obtained a reasonable accommodation from an Allegheny County borough’s zoning ordinance under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act to allow a family to install a six-foot fence to provide a safe outdoor play area for their two-year-old child with global development delay.  Due to the child’s disabilities, the child elopes, cannot follow instructions, and does not understand safety precautions.  The borough’s zoning ordinance limits fences to four feet in certain portions of the family’s yard, but the family needed a six-foot fence to prevent the child from climbing over the fence and eloping.  The family contacted DRP after the borough denied a request for a zoning certificate to install a six-foot fence.  After DRP sent the borough a letter explaining the family’s right to a reasonable accommodation from the zoning ordinance under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the borough granted a reasonable accommodation giving the family permission to install a six-foot fence.