|
Suit Over Discriminatory Building Regs Moves Forward
NAHB has standing to sue the City of Kyle, Texas over proposed development regulations that the association believes violate the Fair Housing Act, a Federal District Court judge ruled on July 31.
NAHB and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed suit in January against Kyle, alleging that the city’s development regulations are excessively stringent and are driving up the cost of housing for many low-income families, disproportionately affecting the community’s African-American and Hispanic citizens.
The lawsuit is part of a groundbreaking partnership between the NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil right organization, and NAHB, which represents more than 225,000 professionals in the housing industry.
Seeking to dismiss the suit, the City of Kyle had challenged NAHB’s standing (its right to bring a lawsuit) under the Fair Housing Act. A federal magistrate, Andrew W. Austin, determined in a June 16 ruling that the NAACP, the Texas NAACP, the Austin NAACP, NAHB and the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin (HBA) did have standing, and that recommendation was upheld at the end of last month by Lee Yeakel, a judge for the Western District of Texas.
“The court finds that plaintiffs HBA and NAHB have alleged sufficient facts to demonstrate associational standing,” Austin wrote in the earlier ruling that was affirmed by the District Court.
“This is an important victory for NAHB and the HBA of Greater Austin,” said Duane Desiderio, NAHB’s staff vice president for legal affairs. “NAHB and the NAACP can now proceed to the merits of our Fair Housing Act claim that the Kyle ordinance is discriminatory in effect and has a disparate impact in pricing minorities out of the housing market.”
The City of Kyle adopted the zoning and subdivision ordinances that are having an adverse impact on its housing costs in November of 2004. Among other things, the ordinances:
- Require a minimum garage size of 480 square feet
- Increase the minimum home size from 1,000 square feet to 1,200 square feet
- Require a masonry exterior
- Increase the lot size of single-family homes by 20%
These changes have caused the price of a new entry-level home in Kyle to rise from an average price of $100,000 to an average of $138,000, Desiderio said.
“Regardless of intent, the city’s actions make it more difficult for builders to provide housing for disadvantaged minority families, and that is a violation of the Fair Housing Act,” Desiderio said.
For more information, e-mail Blake Smith at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8583.
|
