Hispanics United v. Village of Addison

160 F.R.D. 681, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5403, 1995 WL 248473
District Court, N.D. Illinois·Decided April 20, 1995·No. No. 94 C 6075·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CASTILLO, District Judge.

Organizational plaintiffs Hispanics United of Dupage County (“Hispanics United”), Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities (“Leadership Council”), and Hispanic Council, and the individual plaintiffs1 (collectively “plaintiffs”) on behalf of themselves and all other persons similarly situated, sue defendants Village of Addison, Illinois (“Addison” or “the Village”), Addison Board of Trustees, and Anthony Russotto, Angelo Chrysogelos, Larry Hartwig, Don LaPato, Sylvia Layne, Harry Theodore, and Richard Veenstra, in their capacities as members of Addison’s Board of Trustees (collectively “defendants”), alleging housing discrimination on the basis of national origin and actions in perpetuation of segregation, under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., and under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, 1983. The essence of plaintiffs’ five-count amended class action complaint (the “Complaint”) is that Addison’s proposed redevelopment plans — which allegedly destroy the two largest Hispanic residential communities in the Village — intentionally discriminate against Hispanics and have a disparate adverse impact on Addison’s Hispanic Community. The Complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief and monetary damages. Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification is presently before the Court.

BACKGROUND2

The Dispute

According to the 1980 decennial census, the Village of Addison had a Hispanic population of 5.8%. By 1990, Addison’s Hispanic population had grown to approximately 13.4% and growth of Addison’s Hispanic community continues. The two neighborhoods wherein the majority of Addison’s Hispanic population resides — Green Oaks and Michael Lane — contain privately-owned, low density, low-rise, multi-family dwellings. A large percentage of the buddings are owner-occupied. Green Oaks had a total of 187 dwelling units prior to the demolition by the Village in September and October of 1994 of eight four-apartment buildings. Prior to these demolitions, approximately 60% of those dwelling units were occupied by Hispanics, approximately 15% were occupied by whites, and about 7% were occupied by African-Americans or Asians. A large majority of the remaining residents of the Green Oaks neighborhood are Hispanic. Michael Lane has approximately 620 residential apartments and more residents than Green Oaks. A large majority (estimated to be as high as 75% or more) of the residents of Michael Lane are Hispanic. The buildings in these neighborhoods are in compliance with the zoning code and have generally been maintained in compliance with the housing code. [684] The defendants are aware that the Green Oaks and Michael Lane neighborhoods are predominantly Hispanic and contain the largest Hispanic residential communities in Addison.

In January of 1994, the defendants proposed a tax increment financing (“TIF”) redevelopment project entitled the “Army Trail/Mill Road Redevelopment Plan and Project” (the “Green Oaks TIF”). After a statutorily required public hearing on the project was held on March 4, 1994, the Village Board of Trustees approved the Green Oaks TIF and adopted an ordinance providing for the project on March 21, 1994. The boundaries of the area slated for redevelopment under the Green Oaks TIF include the Green Oaks neighborhood. As part of its TIF ordinance for Green Oaks, the Village has found the neighborhood to be “blighted” within the meaning of the Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act (the “Act”), 65 ILCS 5/11-74.4-1 et seq., which authorizes municipal TIF redevelopment programs.3 The TIF plan states that the improved properties within the Green Oaks TIF district are “considered blighted due to their aged condition, depreciation of physical maintenance, deleterious land use, inadequate utilities, obsolescence, code violations, excessive vacancies and an absence of effective community planning for the area.” Am.Compl., Ex. A, Green Oaks TIF Plan at 5. The plaintiffs allege that none of these factors are actually present in the Green Oaks neighborhood and that their inclusion in the plan is a pretext for discrimination.

Plaintiffs further allege that the defendants specifically devised the boundaries of the Green Oaks redevelopment area to include the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood and to exclude adjacent, comparably improved, comparably dense, and predominantly white neighborhoods. For instance, the boundaries of the Green Oaks TIF district exclude a residential area adjacent to Green Oaks containing the Chateau Mill Condominiums. The Chateau Mills Condominiums consist of two 68-unit buildings, have a unit density greater than Green Oaks or Michael Lane, and are predominantly white-occupied. Also excluded from the Green Oaks TIF district is a residential area adjacent to Green Oaks called Stephens Drive, which contains twelve 12-unit apartment buildings with a unit density greater than Green Oaks or Michael Lane, and which is predominantly white-occupied.4

The Green Oaks TIF plan provides that after redevelopment, the Green Oaks neighborhood will no longer be residential, thus eliminating an entire neighborhood of affordable housing. Since the TIF district was approved, the defendants have initiated efforts to purchase buildings located in the Green Oaks neighborhood and have filed condemnation suits against those owners who refused to sell their buildings. The Village has already acquired and demolished at least eight buildings located in the Green Oaks neighborhood; and, condemnation suits affecting at least eight additional buildings containing at least thirty-two dwelling units are in progress. The residents of the buildings have been forced to vacate their homes and relocate. Despite the fact that Green Oaks comprises only a portion of the Green Oaks TIF plan area, no other property acquisition or demolition attendant to the TIF district has occurred. The defendants have only initiated condemnation proceedings involving buildings in the Green Oaks neighborhood. Plaintiffs allege that the defendants have included the Green Oaks neighborhood in the [685] TIF district in order to eliminate a primarily Hispanic neighborhood. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants’ conduct with respect to the Green Oaks TIF project has had, and will continue to have, a greater adverse effect on housing opportunities for Hispanics than for non-Hispanies.

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Hispanics United v. Village of Addison, 160 F.R.D. 681, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5403, 1995 WL 248473 (N.D. Ill. 1995).

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