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Mr. lae��ni� Welsch January 6,2006 Page 3 of 6 Minn. Stat. � 462.357, subd. 8. The statute goes on to state that if a municipality so chooses, a conditional use or special use permit can be required for the larger group home facilities located in multifamily zones: A township, municipal or county zoning authority may require a conditional t�se or special use �ernlit in order to assure proper maintenance and operation of a facility, provided that no conditions shall be imposed on the facility which are more restrictive than those imposed on other conditional uses or special uses of residential property in the same zones, unless the additional conditions are necessary to protect the health and saieiy of �h� residents of the residential facility. Id. It is noteworthy that the single family group home provision does not give the option to require a conditional use or special use permit, while the multifamily use provision does. Minnesota enacted this legislation to facilitate acceptance of group homes in residential communities.' Courts generally uphold the legislation on the ground that it bears a substantial relation to a legitimate governmental objective of statewide concern which overrides the typically wide discretion afforded local controls in the land use area. Costley v. Caromin House, Inc., 3l3 N.W.2d 21, 27-28 (Minn. �981). A local zoning ordinance provision will be invalidated if it attempts to regulate a field that the state legislature has pre-�mpted. 477B Op. Att'y Gen. 2(1982). Allowing stricter local regulation of residential facilities than local or statewide standards for other residences could effectively bar them from communities, violating the state policy in favor of residential treatment. Northwest Residence, Inc, v. City of BYOOlclyn Center, 352 N.W,2d 764, 773 (Minn. Ct. App. 1985). The Minnesota Attorney General has provided guidance on how the statutory language should be interpreted. The above statutes "per�nit municipalities to appiy ta state iicerlsea` facilities whatever zoning restrictions generally apply to single or mu�ti-family dwellings." 59- A-32 Op. Att'y Gen. 2(1979). Thus, while the statutes often penr�i� housing at greater densities than would be permitted otherwise, group homes still have to generally follow the remainder of the zoning regulations and performance standards in either the single or multifamily residential zoning district. The provisions only permit group homes insofar as they follow the general regulations of the respective districts. � By 1987, all f�t.y states aiid the District of Coln�nbia had passed sin�ilar legislation to protect neighborhood group homes for the mentally retarded. My Brother'.s Kee�er v. Scott County, 621 1V.�.2d 479, 481 ii.1 (Minn. Ct. App. 2001). �