Group Homes
The Idaho Supreme Court recently held, in D&M Country Estates Homeowners Association v. Romriell, 138 Idaho 160, 59 P.3d 965 (2002) a development's limitation that one dwelling per lot may be used by no more than two families was not a violation of an Idaho statute prohibiting discrimination in housing for the elderly. A property owner desired to convert a house purchased in an association into a group home for the elderly. Idaho law provided that housing for 8 or fewer elderly persons constituted residential purposes, but the association's covenants were more restrictive than the zoning requirements. The court held that the unambiguous restriction in the covenant was not a violation of the statue prohibiting discrimination because the statute limited itself to zoning regulations.
