A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit finds that a Long Island village violated the Fair Housing Act in rezoning property to make it more difficult to build multifamily housing. This decision reaffirms that (1) intentional discrimination cases are often proven with subtle and circumstantial evidence; (2) municipalities can be liable for the racist views of their constituents; and (3) the Court of Appeals is loath to second-guess factual findings reached by the trial courts.
Background
The case, MHANY Management, Inc. v. County of Nassau, was decided on March 23, 2016.1 The dispute arose when Nassau County wanted to sell public land in Garden City to raise revenue and fund existing county operations. Known as the Social Services Site, this land was located in the Public Zone (P-Zone), which encompasses numerous county buildings. Garden City controlled the site’s zoning. A planning firm, Buckhurst Fish and Jacquemart (BFJ), proposed applying “multi-family residential group,” or R-M, zoning, which would have allowed for multifamily units. The project was abandoned after Garden City residents expressed opposition to the construction of multifamily units in the community.
Community Opposition
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
