Property Law Keyed to Cribbet
Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp
ProfessorTodd Berman
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
Respondent applied to Petitioner for rezoning of a 15 acre parcel from single-family residential to multi-family residential, intending to build federally subsidized low to moderate income housing. The request was denied and Respondent sued for injunctive and declaratory relief, claiming that the effect of the denial of rezoning was discriminatory in nature and thus violative of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. Section:3601, et. seq. Arlington Heights is a suburb of Chicago, which is predominately white (the 1970 census showed that only 27 of the city’s 64,000 residents were black). The city is mostly zoned for single-family detached housing. The Clerics of St. Viator (the Order) owns an 80-acre parcel of land surrounded by single-family housing. In 1970, the Order decided to devote some of its land to low and moderate income housing, and found that the most expedient way to accomplish this goal was to work through a nonprofit developer experienced in federal housing subsidies under Section:236 of the National Housing Act, 12 U.S.C. Section:1715z-1. The sale was contingent on Respondent’s securing of zoning clearances from the Petitioner and Section:236 housing assistance from the government. Respondent hired an architect and began the project, which was to be known as Lincoln Green, and was to include 20 two-story buildings with a total of 190 units. Respondent filed a petition for rezoning with the Village Plan Commission along with materials regarding the proposal, including the requirement under Section:236 that an affirmative marketing plan be designed to assure that a subsidized development is racially integrated. The Commission held three public hearings after which it recommended to the Petitioner’s Board of Trustees that the application of Respondent be denied due to the fact that the Commission felt that low income housing would be unsuitable in the proposed location. The Board of Trustees then denied the rezoning application. Then, Respondent f iled suit against the Petitioner, seeking injunctive and declaratory relief. The federal district court found for the Petitioner, but the court of appeals reversed and found for Respondent. The Petitioner appealed.
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