HUD Steps Up in Texas - After 2008 Hurricanes Ike & Dolly, the federal government provided restoration funds to the Texas coast, but instead of directing those funds to the most damaged areas and those with the fewest resources to address their needs, Texas' plan was to spread the money around the state and gave the local governments broad authority on how the funds would be spent. Two affordable housing groups protested, and HUD rejected the state's plan, and forced the state to negotiate an equitable agreement with two advocacy groups.
In New Berlin, Wisconsin, low income housing tax credit developments have recently faced strong oppostion from condo owners and single-family homes, who use the oft-heralded (but seldom proven) claims that the apartments will hurt their property values and bring crime. The apartment complex did receive its LIHTC funding commitment, although the city planning commission has rescinded a parking waiver it had previously granted. And in Kenosha, WI, two LIHTC projects are facing intense opposition from neighborhood residents. It's always fun to read the comments below the articles.
Charlotte, South Carolina has faced intense pressure lately as the city has attempted to disperse low-income housing, with multiple locations being shot down by homeowner opposition. But the affordable housing advocates in Charlotte continue to look for acceptable sites.
And in Dallas, an attempt to place homeless housing units in an existing apartment complex has resulted in a bitter contest with homeowners and many city council and neighborhood meetings, and a local housing watchdog is closely monitoring the situation after the decision was delayed. Stories 1 2 3 4 5 6 In the midst of this, the Dallas Housing Authority plans to use 160 homes for the homeless and formerly incarcerated. A HUD complaint was filed last week over siting for chronically homeless housing in the Knoxville, Tennessee area.
In Grapevine, a Dallas suburb, city planners proposed a mixed-use zoning district around a future transit stop, only to have the mayor state "To even consider this is the biggest shock I've had ... as mayor. We need to keep multifamily out or abandon the historic district." Query -- apartments = density = transit ridership ... so how does it make sense to promote a TOD mixed-zoning district without apartments? To say nothing of transit-equity issues and the need in particular for affordable housing near transit to reduce the huge housing+transportation burdens of lower income families.
In Orchard Park, New York, a local non-profit proposed to build an apartment building for lower income senior citizens, and the city denied their rezoning, after asking to see rosters of the zip codes of the residents of an existing seniors' low income development. The zoning denial was ostensibly based on concerns of providing services, and the loss of industrial land.
And the town of Freemont, Nebraska has passed a law making it illegal to hire or rent property to illegal immigrants. They should Google "Farmers Branch, Texas" on this issue (they have spent $2 million dollars trying to uphold their anti-immigration measures). Federal judges have struck down both attempts by that city.
Showing posts with label Cases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cases. Show all posts
Friday, June 25, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Farm Worker Housing Settlement
From: Bangor Daily News
Sharon Kiley Mack / February 16, 2010
MILBRIDGE, Maine — A lawsuit involving the town of Milbridge and Mano en Mano, a local nonprofit, was settled in U.S. District Court last week, a move expected by all parties.
Magistrate Judge Margaret J. Kravchuk ordered that all details be completed within 30 days, at which time the suit filed by Mano en Mano will be dismissed.
The lawsuit, initiated last summer, was based on alleged violations of the federal Fair Housing Act. Mano en Mano, a nonprofit advocacy group, was using $1.6 million in federal grant funds to construct a housing unit for permanent agricultural workers.
When Milbridge voters in June 2009 approved a moratorium on such facilities, Mano en Mano sued the town.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Social Justice Advocates Make Case For Annexation
California Planning & Development Report
Paul Shigley // November 9, 2009
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has given new life to a lawsuit alleging that the City of Modesto and Stanislaus County discriminated against four predominately Latino communities.
MORE
Paul Shigley // November 9, 2009
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has given new life to a lawsuit alleging that the City of Modesto and Stanislaus County discriminated against four predominately Latino communities.
MORE
West Hollywood Multi-Family Moratorium Invalidated
California Planning & Development Report
Paul Shigley // December 28, 2009
A City of West Hollywood moratorium on new multi-family housing development has been declared invalid by the Second District Court of Appeal. The court ruled that the city had not made required findings for the moratorium.
MORE
Paul Shigley // December 28, 2009
A City of West Hollywood moratorium on new multi-family housing development has been declared invalid by the Second District Court of Appeal. The court ruled that the city had not made required findings for the moratorium.
MORE
Developer sues Georgetown SC for more than $1 million
TheSunNews.com
Aliana Ramos // December 29, 2009
The developer of an affordable housing apartment complex has sued the city of Georgetown for more than $1 million in damages, alleging the city violated the Fair Housing Act in preventing the project from being built.
"The bottom line is I think the city blocked a multi-family housing project because they wanted single-family homes," said attorney Benjamin Nicholson, who is representing Connelly Development LLC. "The problem is there is a disproportionate number of people in Georgetown who can't afford single-family homes," he said.
Aliana Ramos // December 29, 2009
The developer of an affordable housing apartment complex has sued the city of Georgetown for more than $1 million in damages, alleging the city violated the Fair Housing Act in preventing the project from being built.
"The bottom line is I think the city blocked a multi-family housing project because they wanted single-family homes," said attorney Benjamin Nicholson, who is representing Connelly Development LLC. "The problem is there is a disproportionate number of people in Georgetown who can't afford single-family homes," he said.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Experts cast doubt on housing philosophy
Galveston County Daily News
Rhiannon Meyers // December 25, 2009
The new public housing philosophy of dispersing public housing residents across a region instead of segregating the poor in one city may not work in Galveston County, experts said.The federal government in recent years has pushed public housing agencies to spread housing over entire regions in an attempt to provide better opportunities for families lumped together in poor, crime-ridden cities with low-performing schools, John Powell, executive director of Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, said.
However, regional public housing isn’t successful without solid public transportation, an abundance of low-skilled, entry-level jobs and places where the uninsured can get health care, experts said.
MORE
Rhiannon Meyers // December 25, 2009
The new public housing philosophy of dispersing public housing residents across a region instead of segregating the poor in one city may not work in Galveston County, experts said.The federal government in recent years has pushed public housing agencies to spread housing over entire regions in an attempt to provide better opportunities for families lumped together in poor, crime-ridden cities with low-performing schools, John Powell, executive director of Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, said.
However, regional public housing isn’t successful without solid public transportation, an abundance of low-skilled, entry-level jobs and places where the uninsured can get health care, experts said.
MORE
Sunday, December 27, 2009
LA -- Race is factor in affordable-housing outcry, lawyer says
DailyComet.com
Naomi King // December 13, 2009
HOUMA — In a letter to Terrebonne Parish officials, a lawyer representing an affordable-rent development in Gray says opposition by local residents is racially motivated.
Naomi King // December 13, 2009
HOUMA — In a letter to Terrebonne Parish officials, a lawyer representing an affordable-rent development in Gray says opposition by local residents is racially motivated.
But some residents and parish officials said race doesn't have anything to do with the ongoing debate about Three Oaks. Neighbors — mostly from Southern Estates — have said decreased property values, neighborhood aesthetics, drainage, crime, traffic and overcrowded schools are among their concerns.
The Parish Council will discuss the development at its Community Development and Planning Committee meeting, which starts at 5:45 p.m. Monday. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be in the Government Tower's second-floor meeting room, 8026 Main St.
MOREStatement from NLIHC President Sheila Crowley on HUD’S Rejection of Texas’s Disaster Plan
CommonDreams.org
November 20, 2009
November 20, 2009
he National Low Income Housing Coalition joins housing advocates from Texas in applauding the decision by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to reject the plan submitted by the state of Texas on how the state would use Hurricane Ike disaster recovery funds.
Housing advocates in Texas objected to the state plan primarily because it failed to assure that low and moderate income Texans who lost their homes or whose homes were damaged in Hurricane Ike would be assisted. After conducting their review of what the state proposed, HUD officials agreed with the advocates that the plan did not meet federal CDBG requirements.
In a letter to Texas Governor Rick Perry, HUD Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development Mercedes Marquez notified him that these requirements had not been met and more than $1.7 billion in Community Development Block Grants would be withheld until they were. The state now has 45 days to resubmit its plan.
HUD based its denial on Texas's failure to provide an adequate method of distribution of the funds that would allow the public to exercise its right to comment on where the funds would be spent and who would benefit. Federal law requires that states who receive CDBG funding for disaster recovery detail how the funds will be allocated to local units of government and that the state notify the public of the state action plan and give the public an opportunity to comment.
MOREWhat does law on housing require?
Galveston County Daily News
Heber Taylor // December 9, 2009
It doesn’t matter what public officials think of the Galveston Open Government Project. Members of the self-styled watchdog group have asked some good questions. People in government should be able to answer them.
The folks in this political group, who have described public housing as a failed social experiment, have asked whether a lawsuit in Baltimore has implications for public housing in Galveston County. Ironically, the lawsuit in Baltimore was championed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. Politics can make for strange allies.
The lawsuit, Thompson v. the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, claimed that the plans to continue the decades-old pattern of public housing in Baltimore discriminated against African-Americans living in public housing.
In 2005, U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis said: “Geographic considerations, economic limitations, population shifts, etc., have rendered it impossible to effect a meaningful degree of desegregation of public housing by redistributing the public housing population of Baltimore City within the city limits. Baltimore City should not be viewed as an island reservation for use as a container for all of the poor of a contiguous region.”
The judge said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would have to take a regional approach to promoting fair housing opportunities.
MORE
Heber Taylor // December 9, 2009
It doesn’t matter what public officials think of the Galveston Open Government Project. Members of the self-styled watchdog group have asked some good questions. People in government should be able to answer them.
The folks in this political group, who have described public housing as a failed social experiment, have asked whether a lawsuit in Baltimore has implications for public housing in Galveston County. Ironically, the lawsuit in Baltimore was championed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. Politics can make for strange allies.
The lawsuit, Thompson v. the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, claimed that the plans to continue the decades-old pattern of public housing in Baltimore discriminated against African-Americans living in public housing.
In 2005, U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis said: “Geographic considerations, economic limitations, population shifts, etc., have rendered it impossible to effect a meaningful degree of desegregation of public housing by redistributing the public housing population of Baltimore City within the city limits. Baltimore City should not be viewed as an island reservation for use as a container for all of the poor of a contiguous region.”
The judge said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would have to take a regional approach to promoting fair housing opportunities.
MORE
Bush administration blew off civil rights enforcement
Valley Morning Star
Mary Sanchez // December 17, 2009
This one is for those who naively believe that an entity called the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice should be in the business of enforcing the nation’s civil rights laws. Under the late Bush administration, one had reason to doubt. For years, critics blasted the Bush Justice Department for ideologically inspired hiring and firing decisions, unfair treatment of career (read: ideologically unreliable) staff members, and a selective approach to its enforcement responsibilities.
Now a 180-page report prepared for Congress by the Government Accountability Office bears out many of those contentions.
The report, which assessed civil rights enforcement between 2001 and 2007, found big declines from the Clinton years in cases having to do with housing and job discrimination, and with disability rights. Thomas Perez, the new Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, summarized the findings to Congress in testimony this month.
MORE
Mary Sanchez // December 17, 2009
This one is for those who naively believe that an entity called the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice should be in the business of enforcing the nation’s civil rights laws. Under the late Bush administration, one had reason to doubt. For years, critics blasted the Bush Justice Department for ideologically inspired hiring and firing decisions, unfair treatment of career (read: ideologically unreliable) staff members, and a selective approach to its enforcement responsibilities.
Now a 180-page report prepared for Congress by the Government Accountability Office bears out many of those contentions.
The report, which assessed civil rights enforcement between 2001 and 2007, found big declines from the Clinton years in cases having to do with housing and job discrimination, and with disability rights. Thomas Perez, the new Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, summarized the findings to Congress in testimony this month.
MORE
Revived La. Parish Faces Fight Over Race
National Public Radio
Debbie Elliott // November 19, 2009
Debbie Elliott // November 19, 2009
Slowly, about half the population of St. Bernard Parish has returned to the area since Hurricane Katrina. But with a twist — it's not as white as it used to be, which has sparked a battle over low-income housing and race.
After Katrina, local attorney David Jarrell decided he could help his native St. Bernard Parish rebuild by buying and renovating damaged houses. In a bound notebook with pictures of the dozen or so properties he has refurbished, he singles out one that was "trashed" by the hurricane before he restored it.
"This was the inside — it was wood floors, 10-foot ceilings," he says. "Everything was meticulously designed. But it was still affordable for people, so if anybody was looking to rent, it was just a great little house."
Saturday, December 26, 2009
St. Bernard Parish Council backs off on vote on apartments
The Times-Picayune
Chris Kirkham // November 3, 2009
After pressure from federal housing officials and a pending lawsuit in federal court, the St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday officially rescinded an item on this month's special election ballot that would have given voters the chance to permanently ban large apartment complexes in the parish.
The move came on advice from the parish's lawyers, who last month told the council that they believed the potential apartment ban would jeopardize federal financing for recovery projects and hurt the parish's appeals of its ongoing fair housing lawsuit.
The council proposed the voter referendum on future apartment complexes after three defeats in federal court this year over its attempt to block construction of four 72-unit mixed-income apartment buildings in Chalmette. U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan sided with a local fair housing group and a Dallas real estate company on the four apartment complexes, and the parish eventually granted the building permits necessary for the developers, Provident Realty Advisors, to begin construction.
MORE
Chris Kirkham // November 3, 2009
After pressure from federal housing officials and a pending lawsuit in federal court, the St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday officially rescinded an item on this month's special election ballot that would have given voters the chance to permanently ban large apartment complexes in the parish.
The move came on advice from the parish's lawyers, who last month told the council that they believed the potential apartment ban would jeopardize federal financing for recovery projects and hurt the parish's appeals of its ongoing fair housing lawsuit.
The council proposed the voter referendum on future apartment complexes after three defeats in federal court this year over its attempt to block construction of four 72-unit mixed-income apartment buildings in Chalmette. U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan sided with a local fair housing group and a Dallas real estate company on the four apartment complexes, and the parish eventually granted the building permits necessary for the developers, Provident Realty Advisors, to begin construction.
MORE
Friday, December 25, 2009
Housing group alleges bias by town of Sunnyvale
Dallas Morning News
Ray Leszcynski // October 27, 2009
The Inclusive Communities Project, a Dallas fair housing agency, filed court documents against the town of Sunnyvale on Monday, citing a failure to live up to a 2005 agreement and discriminatory practices the plaintiffs say date to the town's incorporation.
The action marks the latest salvo by plaintiffs in a legal battle that has dragged on for more than 20 years over the right to develop affordable housing in Sunnyvale, a rural enclave of mostly upper-end homes in eastern Dallas County.
Monday's filing was triggered after the town denied a multifamily development on ICP property, the third low-income housing development attempted unsuccessfully in Sunnyvale since 2008.
There are no apartments and no Section 8 residents in Sunnyvale, where the average home has a market value of $274,081.
MORE
Ray Leszcynski // October 27, 2009
The Inclusive Communities Project, a Dallas fair housing agency, filed court documents against the town of Sunnyvale on Monday, citing a failure to live up to a 2005 agreement and discriminatory practices the plaintiffs say date to the town's incorporation.
The action marks the latest salvo by plaintiffs in a legal battle that has dragged on for more than 20 years over the right to develop affordable housing in Sunnyvale, a rural enclave of mostly upper-end homes in eastern Dallas County.
Monday's filing was triggered after the town denied a multifamily development on ICP property, the third low-income housing development attempted unsuccessfully in Sunnyvale since 2008.
There are no apartments and no Section 8 residents in Sunnyvale, where the average home has a market value of $274,081.
MORE
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Housing Battle Reveals Post-Katrina Tensions
From: The New York Times
By: Campbell Robertson // October 3, 2009
CHALMETTE, La. — The parish of St. Bernard, a quiet, insular suburb just east of New Orleans, has in the end agreed to allow housing for low-income families.
By: Campbell Robertson // October 3, 2009
CHALMETTE, La. — The parish of St. Bernard, a quiet, insular suburb just east of New Orleans, has in the end agreed to allow housing for low-income families.
But even though it is only a few hundred apartment units, it had to be ordered by a federal judge. The parish has fought desperately to prevent such housing and an influx of renters, at one point even approving a law that prohibited homeowners from renting to anyone other than a blood relative, before it was challenged and repealed.
The battle over low-income housing has been one of the most bitter that anyone in the middle-class, mostly white parish can remember, one that has stoked issues the region has been grappling with since Hurricane Katrina: anger at the federal government and long-simmering class and racial tensions.
It also reflects widespread anxiety about just how drastically the area changed after the floodwaters receded.
“I think people have adopted this issue as one that goes far beyond the reality of its impact,” said Craig Taffaro Jr., the parish president. “It tapped into the soul of our recovery.”
Milbridge upholds building moratorium
From: Bangor Daily News
By: Sharon Kiley Mack // September 29, 2009
By: Sharon Kiley Mack // September 29, 2009
MILBRIDGE, Maine — In two separate votes Monday night, more than 165 Milbridge residents upheld a building moratorium that was enacted last June for multiunit housing.
In the first vote, which would have rescinded the entire moratorium, the vote was 65 yes, 100 no.
The second vote, which would have excluded from the moratorium Mano en Mano’s six-family housing unit proposed for Wyman Road, also was defeated but by a much smaller margin. The vote was 72 yes, 82 no.
The votes pave the way for a federal lawsuit filed by Mano en Mano against the town to proceed. A hearing on the suit had been scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, but a continuance was granted earlier Monday.
If the town had voted to rescind the moratorium, the lawsuit would have been moot.
The court will set a new hearing date later this week.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Don't apologize for helping create affordable housing
From: LoHud.com
September 26, 2009
Perhaps only in the upside-down world of Westchester would county legislators, in the midst of rampant unemployment, gripping recession and widespread economic dislocation, feel compelled to issue apologia for agreeing to build affordable housing. A half-century ago, John F. Kennedy (and doubtless his ghostwriter) gave the world "Profiles in Courage"; here in Westchester, following the Board of Legislators' approval this week of a $51 million settlement of a False Claims Act/fair housing lawsuit, taxpayers get treated to profiles in regret.
September 26, 2009
Perhaps only in the upside-down world of Westchester would county legislators, in the midst of rampant unemployment, gripping recession and widespread economic dislocation, feel compelled to issue apologia for agreeing to build affordable housing. A half-century ago, John F. Kennedy (and doubtless his ghostwriter) gave the world "Profiles in Courage"; here in Westchester, following the Board of Legislators' approval this week of a $51 million settlement of a False Claims Act/fair housing lawsuit, taxpayers get treated to profiles in regret.
"We all know that we were in a bad situation, and we had to choose the best of a bad situation," said Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, D-Somers, a reluctant "Yes" vote for the settlement, which was approved, 12-5, Tuesday night. It obliges the county to help build some 750 units of affordable housing over the next seven years, most of it in communities that have thwarted such accommodations.
His colleague John Nonna, D-Pleasantville, who earlier had objected to any of the units coming into a portion of his district, issued a 1,250-word essay explaining his "difficult" vote for the agreement. "The important point is that we move forward to try to accomplish the settlement in cooperation with our towns and villages, the (government-appointed) monitor and federal government and be mindful and attentive to the concerns of our residents."
Affordable housing laws aren't stopping segregation
From: washingtonexaminer.com
By: Rigel Oliveri // September 24, 2009
Affluent New York City suburb Westchester County recently agreed to spend more than $50 million to build or acquire 750 affordable housing units in order to help desegregate some of its almost entirely white towns and villages. It only did so because it had been sued.
By: Rigel Oliveri // September 24, 2009
Affluent New York City suburb Westchester County recently agreed to spend more than $50 million to build or acquire 750 affordable housing units in order to help desegregate some of its almost entirely white towns and villages. It only did so because it had been sued.
In February, a federal court determined that Westchester had taken virtually no action to fulfill its promise to use millions of dollars in federal Community Development Block Grant money to further fair housing.
The level of residential racial segregation in the United States is pronounced. Of the 50 U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest black populations, all show a moderate to high level of segregation. Westchester is unusually high.
Westchester County, NY Agrees to Add Housing in Landmark Settlement
From: Affordable Housing Finance
By: Donna Kimura
New York’s Westchester County will make a $51.6 million investment in affordable housing, under an agreement announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Justice Department.
By: Donna Kimura
New York’s Westchester County will make a $51.6 million investment in affordable housing, under an agreement announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Justice Department.
The deal, which settles a three-year lawsuit, is expected to result in the construction of 750 units of affordable housing in overwhelmingly white neighborhoods in the county.
The agreement could have a sweeping effect on other communities nationwide.
“It’s very good news for developers, for-profit and not-for-profit, who have been interested in developing in communities that have been closed,” said Craig Gurian, executive director of the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York (ADC).
Westchester County receives an annual Community Development Block Grant allocation from HUD, and as a condition of receiving this fund, it agrees to “affirmatively further fair housing.” From 2000 to 2008, the county certified that it had complied with this requirement.
ADC disputed the certification. A federal court then ruled that the county failed its legal obligation to explicitly analyze “the existence and impact of race discrimination on housing opportunities and choice in its jurisdiction.”
St. Bernard Defers Actions Following Judge's Ruling
From: WVUE Fox 8 New Orleans
By: Shelly Brown // September 18, 2009
St. Bernard - After meeting in executive session for more than two hours, St. Bernard Parish Council members decided Thursday to take no action to pursue legal options following a federal district court judge's contempt of court ruling last week.
By: Shelly Brown // September 18, 2009
St. Bernard - After meeting in executive session for more than two hours, St. Bernard Parish Council members decided Thursday to take no action to pursue legal options following a federal district court judge's contempt of court ruling last week.
St. Bernard complied Friday to avoid facing thousands of dollars in fines, but Parish President Craig Taffaro said the council and administration are buying time for now.
Taffaro said, "we still believe that as a municipality, the parish council and administration has the right to govern our own parish and to make land use and zoning and planning decisions at a local level and that we deserve some protection as long as we are in the scope of law and we believe we are."
St. Bernard Parish - Judge Rules in Provident's Favor
From: Dallas Business Journal
By: Katherine Cromer Brock // September 11, 2009
Dallas-based Provident Realty Advisors Inc. has won another victory on the road to building $60 million worth of mixed-income housing in St. Bernard Parish, La.
A U.S. district court judge Friday found the parish in contempt of court — for the third time — in its efforts to “thwart, delay and derail the proposed developments.”
As previously reported by the Dallas Business Journal, Provident has built or started construction on more than $200 million worth of affordable housing in and around New Orleans. The four 72-unit apartment buildings proposed in neighboring St. Bernard Parish would include affordable housing and market-rate housing.
In court documents, the parish is accused of imposing a racially motivated moratorium on apartment building to block Provident’s developments. The parish, whose resident base is about 90 percent white, has claimed that it has not yet rebuilt adequate infrastructure to support the apartments, but a judge has ruled that the parish is in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and must lift the moratorium to allow the apartment project to move forward.
Parish leaders have continued to stymie the developments, according to court documents.
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