Southern Alameda Spanish Speaking Organization v. City of Union City

357 F. Supp. 1188, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10713
District Court, N.D. California·Decided July 31, 1970·No. 51590·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

SWEIGERT, District Judge.

This action is brought by the Southern Alameda Spanish Speaking Organization (SASSO) — a non-profit corporation, and certain individual plaintiffs, low income Mexican-Ameriean residents of Union City, Alameda County, against the City and its officials, to compel the defendants to take all steps necessary, including multi-family dwelling rezoning of certain Baker Road property to enable plaintiffs to build a housing project in the Baker Road section of the City.

*1190 In January, 1969, SASSO obtained an option to purchase the Baker Road property with the intention of constructing thereon a 280 unit, federally funded, low and moderate income housing project.

Since 1962 the property had been planned for small family residential use with a holding classification of agricultural until so zoned but, at the request of SASSO, the City Council on April 7, 1969, adopted a rezoning ordinance providing for a variance permitting multifamily residential use.

This ordinance, however, never went into effect because community opponents of the proposed rezoning, invoking California Elections Code Sections 4051, 4052, commenced and perfected referendum proceedings.

After an unsuccessful attempt by plaintiffs to have this court enjoin the holding of the referendum election, the city-wide referendum election was held on July 29, 1969. The voters rejected and overrode the City Council’s rezoning ordinance by a vote of 1149 to 845.

Since the rezoning never became effective, the proposed Baker Road site remained as previously zoned with the result that SASSO could not proceed with its project.

In November, 1969, after the referendum, plaintiffs, contending at that time that the referendum election had been racially motivated, again applied to this court for a preliminary injunction requiring the City to take all steps necessary to enable plaintiffs to proceed with their multi-family use housing project on the Baker Road site notwithstanding the referendum rejection by the electorate of the City Council’s multi-family use rezoning ordinance.

On January 14, 1970, this court filed its Memorandum of Decision, 314 F. Supp. 967, setting forth the grounds upon which it refused to issue a preliminary injunction enjoining the City to that effect.

THE LEGAL ISSUE

On March 16, 1970, this ruling was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in an opinion 9 Cir., 424 F.2d 291, pointing out among other things that:

“Neither the zoning process itself nor the result can be said to be such an arbitrary or unreasonable exercise of the zoning power as to be violative of appellants’ right to due process of law,” and, further, “we do not believe that the question of motivation 1 for the referendum (apart from consideration of its effect) is an appropriate one for judicial inquiry.”

In the course of its opinion, however, the court said:

“Appellants’ equal protection contentions, however, reach beyond purpose. They assert that the effect of the referendum is to deny decent housing and an integrated environment to low *1191 income residents of Union City. If, apart from voter motive, the result of this zoning by referendum is discriminatory in this fashion, in our view a substantial constitutional question is presented. Surely, if the environmental benefits of land use planning are to be enjoyed by a city and the quality of life of its residents is accordingly to be improved, the poor cannot be excluded from enjoyment of the benefits. Given the recognized importance of equal opportunities in housing, it may well be, as matter of law, that it is the responsibility of a city and its planning officials to see that the city’s plan as initiated or as it develops accommodates the needs of its low income families, who usually — if not always — are members of minority groups. It may be, as a matter of fact, that Union City’s plan, as it has emerged from the referendum, fails in this respect. These issues remain to be resolved.”

On May 27, 1970, upon plaintiffs’ request for trial of these issues, this court made its pre-trial order setting the trial for June 2,1970.

We regard the last quoted portion of the Court of Appeals’ opinion as stating “the law of the ease” for the purpose of these trial proceedings.

THE FACTUAL ISSUE

The issue, therefore, now before the court is not the legality of the July 29, 1969 referendum (an issue which has now been settled both by this court and the Court of Appeals) but whether, as stated by the Court of Appeals, the effect of the referendum, apart from motivation, is to deny decent housing and an integrated environment to low income residents of Union City, i. e., does the City’s plan, as initiated or as it has emerged from the referendum, accommodate the needs of low income families' who are usually members of minority groups.

These issues have been thoroughly tried over a period of 14 court days, 17 witnesses, and 50 items of documentary evidence.

Plaintiffs have attempted to establish that as a result of the referendum election, annulling the City Council’s rezoning of the Baker Road site, SASSO and low income Mexican-American residents of Union City are now in effect, prevented by the City’s zoning practices from building any low cost housing project in Union City.

The City and its officials deny that the referendum rejection of the Baker Road rezoning has had any such effect, contending that the City has in all respects accommodated to the needs of its low income residents; that its zoning practices do reasonably accommodate the housing needs of low income residents, such as SASSO claims to represent, and further, that, while SASSO insists on a claimed right to have one particular site, the Baker Road site, rezoned to its liking, there are plenty of other vacant sites which are suitable so far as zoning practices are concerned, and available for low cost housing projects — some of these sites already zoned for multi-family use and others which could be rezoned for such use.

THE FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In 1959 an East Bay area of about 14.4 square miles, 9,216 acres, lying between the cities of Fremont and Hayward and including the two old Mexican-American communities of Decoto and Alvarado, was incorporated as Union City. The population of the new city was then 6,650 — about 55% Mexican-Americans.

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Southern Alameda Spanish Speaking Organization v. City of Union City, 357 F. Supp. 1188, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10713 (N.D. Cal. 1970).

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