The Haas Institute for a Fair & Inclusive Society is delighted that the Mount Holly Gardens v. Citizens in Action, Inc., et. al. case has settled before reaching the Supreme Court. The Haas Institute believes that the parties have reached a good settlement addressing the concerns brought by the neighborhood residents and community.
In the Mount Holly case, the Township of Mount Holly planned to demolish homes and redevelop a neighborhood that is predominantly African American and Latino, displacing homeowners who lived there for many years. Residents of Mount Holly filed suit arguing that the redevelopment plan did not adequately provide alternative, integrated housing options within the Township in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The case would have presented the question (for the first time in the Supreme Court) of whether "disparate impact" standard can be used to enforce the Fair Housing Act.
On October 28th, the Haas Institute and the Warren Institute at UC Berkeley School of Law filed an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief of 61 Housing Scholars in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the residents, arguing that redevelopment plans like Mount Holly’s have a disparate racial impact, and that the “disparate impact” standard is necessary to ensure that governmental entities land-use or housing decisions account for residential patterns brought into existence through historical public policies and private discrimination. Download our amicus brief here.
The Mount Holly case was settled at a special meeting of the Mount Holly Township Council on November 13th, 2013. As Olga Pomar, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, stated after the meeting, the settlement "offers our clients the opportunity they always wanted – to be able to remain in Mount Holly and participate in the revitalization of their community if they so choose, rather than being uprooted from the homes they have lived in for many years, separated from neighbors, friends, and families."
For more information on the settlement, download South Jersey Legal Services, Inc.'s press release: Mt.Holly Settlement Press Release.pdf
Other briefs can be found on the website of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. here.
