Ability Housing's COU appeal gets statewide attention

[sheclown]

Statewide disability rights group raises concerns over Jax zoning

In a letter to the office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry last week, Disability Rights Florida raised concerns about difficulty getting a land-use permit in the Springfield Historic District.

David Boyer, investigations director for the group, observed that there was "difficulty" getting a permit through the Jacksonville Zoning Board, and then observed that such difficulty contravenes the Fair Housing Act.

Boyer stated that "all citizens have equal rights" to "reside in neighborhoods," and "creating laws or policies that prevent people [with] disabilities from living in some parts of the city is discrimination and a violation of the Fair Housing Act."

Boyer's letter is intended to "strongly encourage" the city to fulfill its obligations to "individuals with disabilities as equal citizens."

We have contacted the Curry administration for comment and its action plan. Check back for updates.

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/192131-statewide-disability-rights-group-raises-concerns-over-jax-zoning

Disability Rights Florida: Mission Statement:  To advance the quality of life, dignity, equality, self-determination, and freedom of choice of persons with disabilities through collaboration, education, advocacy, as well as legal and legislative strategies.

Disability Rights Florida was founded in 1977 as the statewide designated protection and advocacy system for individuals with disabilities in the State of Florida. Disability Rights Florida is a not-for-profit corporation that has authority and responsibility under eight federal grants. Our services are free and confidential.

http://www.disabilityrightsflorida.org/about/about_us

[JaxUnicorn]

Statewide disability rights group raises concerns over Jax zoning

In a letter to the office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry last week, Disability Rights Florida raised concerns about difficulty getting a land-use permit in the Springfield Historic District.

David Boyer, investigations director for the group, observed that there was "difficulty" getting a permit through the Jacksonville Zoning Board, and then observed that such difficulty contravenes the Fair Housing Act.

Boyer stated that "all citizens have equal rights" to "reside in neighborhoods," and "creating laws or policies that prevent people [with] disabilities from living in some parts of the city is discrimination and a violation of the Fair Housing Act."

Boyer's letter is intended to "strongly encourage" the city to fulfill its obligations to "individuals with disabilities as equal citizens."

We have contacted the Curry administration for comment and its action plan. Check back for updates.

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/192131-statewide-disability-rights-group-raises-concerns-over-jax-zoning

We saw this coming, eh sheclown??

[sheclown]

For more information on this topic:

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-sep-ability-housing-discrimination

Live Blog of community meeting:

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=21202.75

[strider]

The appeal hearing is this Friday at 11:00 and will be held at City Hall, first floor.  The Certificate Of Use Board , at least for the purpose of the appeal, is made up of the Chief of Building Inspection (Tom Goldsbury) the Fire Marshal (James Groff) and the current Director of Planning, Folk Huxford (Who I was lead to believe signed off on this denial? - wouldn't that be a conflict of interest- the person who denied it to start with helps to determine if that was a just decision?).  This is the last action on a COU the city takes, after that, it can go to a lawsuit.

It will be interesting to see if the City under the new Mayoral administration acts with common sense or continues down the path it has been on of ignorance and prejudice.

[sheclown]

Today, the appeal was denied by the appeals board.  The Feds are taking up the case.  The question is whether or not the local zoning 'overlays' are going to survive the federal action.

Yes.

The case will now be handled by the Department of Justice.  I believe they are already in the picture.

The Ability Housing lawyer was given 20 mins to present his case.

Some highlights were the fact that Huxford had once supported the project and then (after Calvin Burney got involved) switched his tune.  The lawyer tried to get Huxford to explain his reasoning but that didn't get him where he wanted.  Huxford did admit that Mousa said to
let this run the course (or something to that affect).

It was suggested that this was highly politically motivated -- made more obvious when CM Gaffney spoke (although there was no public comments) and said he was in opposition of this project and said it was "off the record".

The lawyer questioned the legality of having the person (Huxford) who signed the denial on the appeals board n the first place. The other members were Tom Goldsbury and the Fire Marshall.  Since the beginning of the Certificate of Use program (some ten years ago), this has been the first appeal to go before the COU  Appeals Board.

What I thought was interesting was that the lawyer brought up the personal liability that folks have when they prohibit a protected class from fair housing.  At the end of the hearing the lawyer returned to the stand and asked to have the votes put on the record.

After the lawyer's presentation (he was granted an additional 5 minutes), the board briefly discussed the issue, made a motion, seconded it.  Building Inspection said they really don't know that much about the zoning issue but "it sounded like a special use".  The Fire Marshall said he has his own building codes and then read some excerpts from group care homes and etc which the lawyer tried to counter.  At the end they unanimously voted to uphold the Certificate of Use denial.

It all boils down to the fact that the city believes its overlay is somehow protected from the requirements of federal law.  They don't think the federal law applies.  According to HUD and DOJ, the state law does give local governments primary power to create land use and zoning laws as long as these laws are consistent with the federal laws.  If not, the federal law will control.

Q. Does the Fair Housing Act pre-empt local zoning laws?

No. "Pre-emption" is a legal term meaning that one level of government has taken over a field and left no room for government at any other level to pass laws or exercise authority in that area. The Fair Housing Act is not a land use or zoning statute; it does not pre-empt local land use and zoning laws. This is an area where state law typically gives local governments primary power. However, if that power is exercised in a specific instance in a way that is inconsistent with a federal law such as the Fair Housing Act, the federal law will control. Long before the 1988 amendments, the courts had held that the Fair Housing Act prohibited local governments from exercising their land use and zoning powers in a discriminatory way.

http://www.justice.gov/crt/joint-statement-department-justice-and-department-housing-and-urban-development-1

The representative from the state's disability watch dog group was sitting in my view.  He kicked his pen in an angry tense click click click click until I thought it was going to crumble in his grip.

It is my understanding that Ability Housing can bring a civil suit while the Department of Justice is bringing theirs.

I do believe the Springfield Overlay will not survive scrutiny from the federal government.  The very nature of classifying disabled people as "special" and then calling them a "special use" with restrictions that do not apply to their more able-bodied neighbors won't cut it.  In fact, if you are living in a "special use" home, you cannot have chained link fence -- you must remove it.  Unlike your neighbors who are not required to do the same. 

Crap like that will be gone.

And ultimately, the city of Jacksonville will think twice before depriving their disabled citizens the right to live in ANY neighborhood they choose -- regardless of who likes it, or who can line pockets to prevent it.

[sheclown]

Ability Housing loses its appeal for Springfield housing in Jax, considers suit

By A.G. Gancarski


The long and winding battle between Ability Housing and residents of the Springfield neighborhood in Jacksonville continued Friday, with Ability Housing's appeal of the Planning and Development Department's refusal to grant an exception from a zoning overlay being.

In May, the city of Jacksonville contended, according to WJCT, "that the facility's intended use is 'akin' to that of a rooming house or group care home and similar activities." That constitutes "special use" housing, which is prohibited in the area under city zoning laws.

"We believe the interpretation of the use of 139 Cottage Avenue Apartments is incorrect," Ability Housing Executive Director Shannon Nazworth wrote in a statement. "Cottage Avenue is currently a 12-unit apartment building and after our purchase will remain a 12-unit apartment building. As such it is not a special use as defined in the Springfield Overlay."

Ahead of the appeal, Disability Rights Florida sent the mayor's office a letter, establishing a line of argument rooted in federal law.

David Boyer, investigations director for the group, observed that there was "difficulty" getting a permit through the Jacksonville Zoning Board, and then observed that such difficulty contravenes the Fair Housing Act.

Boyer stated that "all citizens have equal rights" to "reside in neighborhoods," and "creating laws or policies that prevent people [with] disabilities from living in some parts of the city is discrimination and a violation of the Fair Housing Act."

Boyer's letter was intended to "strongly encourage" the city to fulfill its obligations to "individuals with disabilities as equal citizens."

A group of Springfield neighborhood activists mobilized against that action.  Springfield is a neighborhood that has been in a gradual but real revival in recent years.

One such activist observed, on the Facebook page for the event, that "Ability Housing has already been defunded for the ... state grant that purchasing this property was designed for. The City has denied their Certificate of Use because it violates the Springfield Overlay. Yet Ability Housing continues to fight!"

On Friday afternoon, FloridaPolitics.com spoke with Nazworth, who confirmed the activists' claims.

Florida Housing Finance Commission had extended funding, Nazworth said, but because the Certificate of Use had been denied, the money had to be recaptured.

Regarding the persistent opposition to the project from community activists, Nazworth said that it "appears to be a NIMBY response," because of "people not understanding" what the project was about.

"A lot of misinformation," she said, had circulated, with some apparently thinking  that their plans were for a homeless shelter or a "treatment facility."

Regarding the Disability Rights Florida letter, Nazworth noted that they became aware of the issue, and wrote the mayor's office in advocacy. As well, the group was represented in the room on Friday.

Next steps for Ability Housing will be determined at a Tuesday board meeting, where legal counsel will be present.

"We are very committed to pursuing legal action," Nazworth said.

Story is developing; expect updates.

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/192627-ability-housing-loses-its-appeal-for-springfield-housing-in-jax-may-sue

[sheclown]

Ability Housing's lawyer asked for a copy of all of the emails received by the board to be included in the case file. 

FWIW:   It is illegal for anyone to threaten, coerce, intimidate or interfere with anyone exercising a fair housing right or assisting others who exercise that right.

That's why if i were the organizers of the facebook event "butts in seats" which was attempting to interfere with the disabled's fair housing rights (and who was quoted in the newspaper), I would be concerned.  It is one thing to be afraid of an apartment which is housing 12 disabled people and quite another to be afraid of the feds.

In addition to the other actions, I wonder if the Department of Justice will go after the community organizers in this. 

Just like that bell that can't be unrung, that email can't be unsent.

As far as facebook posts?  I'm sure they are being printed out and saved as we speak.

[sheclown]

It's this statement, on record, from the Sept 4, 2014 Planning Commission Appeal hearing, that will bite Jacksonville in the ass.



page 145

"average person"

[strider]

What I find a bit disturbing is the possible city wide consequences of supporting Mr Burney's interpretation. The term "Special Uses" in the Springfield overlay refers to a list of residential and institutional uses that were considered to be of a greater number than positive for the small area of the historic district and so existing uses so grouped together under the term "special" were grandfathered and no new uses of those types are allowed to open. The actual  definitions of those uses are found in the regular zoning code. Rooming houses and high density group care homes are either very limited as to where they can be and mostly then only by an exception all over Jacksonville so once a use is so defined, new ones are pretty much illegal everywhere.  My concern is that since Mr. Burney declared that a residential use where the residents are not average, in this case, disabled, and the residents need outside services of some type, meaning they would get help from someone to figure out mental health help, wheel chair transport, etc, is now "AKIN" (of similar character: synonyms:   similar, related, close, near, corresponding, comparable, equivalent; connected, alike, analogous, related by blood) to rooming houses and high density group care homes, that this can and will be applied to others whenever someone doesn't want the "special" people in their neighborhood.

Special uses. Special uses include residential treatment facilities, rooming houses, emergency shelter homes, group care homes, and community residential homes of over six residents. New special uses are not allowed in the district and existing special uses must conform to the standards set forth in Section 656.369.

Special uses. Special uses are residential/institutional uses that are no longer permitted in the districts. Such uses may continue if they comply with the standards and criteria of this subsection within one year from the effective date of this legislation. The following uses are identified as special uses: residential treatment facilities, rooming houses, emergency shelter homes, group care homes, and community residential homes of seven or more residents. Beginning November 1, 20008 and thereafter, all special use facilities shall provide the following information to the Director:
(1)
Information showing or depicting the accurate square footage of the facility's livable interior space and number of habitable rooms, as it existed on December 21, 2000; and
(2)
Licensure or permit information from the relevant State agency showing continuous operation of the facility from prior to December 21, 2000; and
(3)
License or permit information or affidavit if such information is not available as to number of residents authorized to legally occupy the licensed or permitted facility on or before December 21, 2000; and
(4)
Number of persons considered by the facility to be occupying the facility as full-time staff and/or their immediate family members.
Those special use facilities which provide the above information in a timely manner are considered legally non-conforming and shall be allowed to continue operation until such time as the legally non-conforming status ceases, as provided in this Chapter. As relating to the information submitted as required in this subsection, special use facilities shall not expand the square footage of the facility, relocate the facility or increase the number of licensed residents in the facility. Additionally, if a facility increases the number of staff, including immediate family members, the facility shall notify the Director within 90 days of such increase.

The city shall through annual inspections also ensure that such uses comply with the following standards, and if the property is not in compliance with the standards after a reasonable time allowed for correction of the violation, if the facility fails to timely submit the information required herein, or if the special use intensifies, expands, relocates or fails to report increases in staff in a timely manner, the special use shall not be allowed to continue.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the zoning code, the occupancy of a special use facility shall not exceed any applicable occupancy limitation otherwise required by any federal, state or local law, rule or regulation.

(1)
Chain link fences shall not be allowed in any yards along public streets (not including alleys), and must be located at least six feet behind the closest vertical plane of the primary structure.
(2)
The use shall comply with all applicable City property maintenance and unsafe building codes.
(3)
Twenty-four-hour, on-site management shall be required.
(4)
New rooming houses are not permitted. Existing rooming houses shall be identified by one or more of the following existing conditions, each of which shall create a rebuttable presumption that a building is a rooming house:
(A)
Signs that indicate rooms, beds, or living spaces for rent;
(B)
Interior locks, partitions, hasps, appliances such as electric fry pans, toaster ovens, refrigerators, etc.;
(C)
Individual storage of food;
(D)
Alphabetical, numeric, or other labeling of bedrooms or living areas;
(E)
Alterations to structures which enhance or facilitate its use as a rooming house.
(Ord. 2000-302-E, § 1; Ord. 2007-1046-E, §§ 1, 2)

[sheclown]

So, by affirming Mr. Burney's interpretation, no Permanent Supportive Housing will be allowed anywhere in Jacksonville since no new rooming houses or high density group houses are allowed. ( I think there is a sliver of area allowed for this in an industrial park in Jax).

However, the Ability Housing lawyer did not argue Land Use and Zoning on friday.  He took the more powerful argument of Fair Housing and chose to fight that battle.  As he said, the interpretation was ILLEGAL because you cannot make laws counter to federal law and therefore you cannot appeal something which is ILLEGAL.

[strider]

Actually, as near as I can find, there is no where in Jacksonville that one can have a rooming house, boarding house or high density group care home by right.  The only zoning that a rooming house can open now is CRO and only by exception.  A high density group care home can open in RHD,  RMD-B,C,D & E, again, only by exception. Boarding houses are allowed in RMD-C&D by exception with Residential Treatment Facilities allowed in all RMD but again, only by exception.  The definitions for the uses, or least the normally accepted definitions that were passed in an ordinance, can be found in the codes: 656.1601. By the way, low density group care homes, meaning those with 6 and fewer residents, are allowed all over Jacksonville by right.

Knowing as we do the foot stomping all but a lynch mop that the Ability Housing project caused, can anyone believe that a rooming house or high density group care home or, now, permanent supportive housing, actually be welcomed anywhere in Jacksonville? A Federal lawsuit won't just affect change in the Historic Springfield Overlay, but probably all of Jacksonville.

We do have a new and very bright Planning Director on his way, perhaps he can fix this before it costs us tax payers too many millions.

[strider]

So, on Facebook a Springfield resident has informed me that they do indeed have the right to decide who can and who can not live in their community.  I guess we will soon see a public application for the right to move into the Historic District.  I know the disabled will be told no.  I wonder about Blondes?

[sheclown]

BTW, does anyone have a copy of that original 'Child Molesters Coming, Head for the Hills!" Flyer?

well...there's this:



For a discussion about this letter go here:

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=22346.0

[sheclown]

and this:

SPAR's latest on Ability Housing from Facebook:

Springfield Preservation and Revitalization (SPAR)
about an hour ago · Edited
This is the historic building nestled in on Cottage Avenue that may be transformed into a homeless facility if special interests outside our community have their way on September 4th.

These homeless individuals are expected, by the special interest's own words, to have significant substance abuse, mental health, and criminal histories. The building is good shape, occupied, and for sale. There have been buyers interested in upgrading the building to nicer apartments, but unfortunately, an organization placed a contract on the building to use as a homeless facility before those other offers were made. This organization did not discuss their intentions with the community they planned to use for their project - the Springfield Historic District. Thankfully, COJ has ruled that the project project is prohibited in our community, due to our neighborhood's Zoning Overlay. But that is being challenged.

One week from today, the public hearing is set (no more postponements!) to determine if the COJ Planning Commission will allow this new homeless facility to be established in our neighborhood. This is a public meeting, and having a LARGE showing of Springfield residents & stakeholders attend is very important to ensure that our Springfield Zoning Overlay, which prohibits new "special uses" such as this from opening here, is kept intact.

The hearing is Thursday, September 4th @ 1pm at the Ed Ball Building in Downtown Jax, (214 Hogan Street, 1st floor Training Room) and open to the public. Our Zoning Overlay was established in 2000 to prevent new "special uses" from opening in our neighborhood, as the City of Jacksonville and Springfield community determined that concentration of such special uses was hurting the health and viability of the area. You see, supporting the Springfield Zoning Overlay is supporting the continued revitalization of our unique and diverse community, plain and simple.

Hope to see you there.

Our neighborhood has received support from notable planning experts, Duval County Public Schools, Riverside Avondale Preservation, the City of Jacksonville, and many other entities on this issue. It's fantastic to see the larger Jacksonville community supporting one of Jacksonville's original communities.

And to address the spin that is being disseminated by the paid PR staff on the other side of this issue: No, this project would not be specifically for Veterans.

[sheclown]

and this:

Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 08:40:30 -0400
Subject: SPAR Block Captains Update 8.15.14
From: sparblockcaptains@gmail.com
To: sparblockcaptains@gmail.com

Hello Springfield Neighbor,

This is the SPAR Block Captains Update. A regular email about quality-of-life issues and opportunities in our little neighborhood, the Springfield Historic District.
.  .  .  .  .  . 

(6) September 4th @ 1pm - Be There!

After multiple postponements, it looks like the FINAL date for the Planning Commission hearing to determine whether a new homeless facility will be allowed to open in our Springfield Historic District will be on Thursday, 9/04 @ 1pm. Again, this meeting is public, held at the Ed Ball Building in Downtown Jacksonville (214 Hogan Street, 1st floor Training Room) and all concerned residents are encouraged to attend.

The proposed program would place at least a dozen chronically homeless individuals into our neighborhood from around North Florida, many expected to have serious substance abuse and mental health issues (yet no requirement for treatment or on site management). There's been attempts to weaken opposition to this program by providing misleading information to the community, such as inferring the program is only for veterans, or allows children, but neither are true. If you'd like to read a copy of the grant application which details the target population and program, just ask and we can email it to you. It speaks for itself.

Recently, Duval County Public Schools and our cousins at Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP) published letters of support for our community on this issue. You can read them, along with some superficial debate, here: http://myspringfield.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17787#p17787

From: Springfield Block Captains <sparblockcaptains@gmail.com>
Date: September 25, 2014 at 12:01:23 AM PDT
To: Springfield Block Captains <sparblockcaptains@gmail.com>
Subject: SPAR Block Captains Update 9.24.14

(2) Success at Planning Commission Hearing

You've heard by now, no doubt, that on 9/04/14 the Planning Commission rejected the appeal to allow the unsupervised homeless housing project for those with serious chronic issues to open in our neighborhood. In a 6-2 vote, the Commission upheld the COJ Planning Department's denial and agreed with the Springfield community (and various subject matter experts) that the project was more than simple apartments, as other side was arguing.

To all residents and stakeholders who attended either of the large community meetings, who wrote emails, who wrote actual physical letters (old fashioned!), who corrected the local media after they repeatedly fell for the paid PR spin of the developers, who attended the community walk, who researched the proposed program details, who contacted the state agencies, who took time off their actualy job to work on this issue, who volunteered their materials and sweat, who spent their own dollars (and a lot of them), and who spent hours at the September 4th hearing: THANK YOU.

A special thanks goes out to Jack, JoAnn, Adam, Michael, Crissie, Bill, and Brian for their efforts, which were substantial. Councilman Gaffney, Riverside Avondale Preservation, and Duval County Pubic Schools were also very supportive of our neighborhood on this issue.

This is a diverse community with diverse opinions on any number of issues. There was a clear majority opinion, however, on this issue and in the end the result was best for the continuing improvement of our neighborhood. However, the purchasing future of the Cottage Avenue property remains unclear. And a collection of social service organizations may challenge the City's zoning rules in federal court over this issue, which could hypothetically impact zoning across Jacksonville. Who knows how long that would take.....it would be a lengthy process.



(3) Follow Up

Whether that specific project was approved or denied, we promised to follow up on this issue by examining a possible change in the process for which these types of grants are approved, to include input from the community where such projects are planned. Currently, organizations are under no obligation to engage the community they seek to operate in, and the agency that awards the grants has no idea whether a project is being embraced or rejected by citizens. These grants are funded by taxes and we're tax payers, thus we feel that community input should be considered.