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J.' As you can see, there has been a lot of discussion and court action related to this subject. The ability of local units of government, city or county, to take a step to restrict access to certain neighborhoods is limited. However, while we can not do much in terms of restricting access, we do take seriously our role in promoting positive interactions. This is done through asking providers and families of individuals with developmental disabilities to consider the impacts, both positive and negative, that will likely result from developing new homes. We encourage communication with the cities as well as the neighborhoods. You also raised a concern about providers coming in and developing homes throughout the neighborhood. While legally a possibility, from a programming standpoint that is very unlikely. Neighborhood integration is one of the primary purposes for moving developmentally disabled individuals to a community setting, including interacting with others who are not disabled. It is not in the interests of the residents or their families to develop several homes on a block. In this case, the goals of individuals with developmental disabilities, their families, case managers, and those of the neighborhood are the same. As long as this is the case, the chances of group homes dominating a neighborhood are very remote. I've enclosed a map showing the distribution of group homes for the developmentally disabled in Ramsey County. Due to the concerns raised by you and other neighbors, county staff have conducted site visits to assess the situation. In addition, they have reviewed the service needs of the residents to see if a level of service greater than this home can provide is needed. Staff have spoken with the provider on several occasions asking them to take steps to reduce noise coming from the home. We will continue to monitor the situation and hope these and other steps can be taken to enable this home to operate cooperatively with the rest of the neighborhood. With over 400 homes throughout Ramsey County providing service to individuals with developmental disabilities, county staff are continuously monitoring their progress. The vast majority of these homes interact positively with their neighbors. For the few that are having problems, we appreciate hearing from the neighbors so that the situations can be remedied. Again, thank you for your letter. I would welcome hearing from you on this and other topics of concern to you and your neighbors. Please call me or my assistant, Jeanne Walz, at 266-8356. Sincerely, ~~ ~~~ ~L0~ <? 54 Lt ~It<; J Parker Wiessner. ommissioner, District 2 Cc: Steve Sarkozy, Roseville City Manager Mayor Dan Wall Councilmember John Goedeke Councilmember Dean Maschka Councilmember Barb Mastel Councilmember Donn Wiski Tom Fashingbauer, Director of Ramsey County Human Services 3