Villages of Cornwallis Owners Ass'n v. Durham Housing Authority

894 F. Supp. 236, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10928, 1995 WL 457848
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. North Carolina
DecidedJuly 21, 1995
DocketNo. 1:95CV149
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 894 F. Supp. 236 (Villages of Cornwallis Owners Ass'n v. Durham Housing Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Villages of Cornwallis Owners Ass'n v. Durham Housing Authority, 894 F. Supp. 236, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10928, 1995 WL 457848 (M.D.N.C. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TILLEY, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, the Villages of Cornwallis Owners Association and several individuals, filed this suit in state court seeking an order enjoining Durham Housing Authority and HUD from developing a low income housing project on a particular site in Durham. Defendants removed the action to this Court on March 2, 1995. The ease comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction under Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons discussed below, Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is DENIED.

I.

The facts, which are largely undisputed, are as follows: On July 13,1990, the Durham Housing Authority (DHA) submitted an application to the Greensboro Field Office (Greensboro office) of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the development of forty units of public housing in Durham, North Carolina. DHA submitted several site proposals for various sites in Durham, all of which were rejected by the Greensboro office. On April 8, 1994, DHA formally submitted a proposal for constructing forty units of public housing on property located at the juncture of North Carolina Highway 55 and Cornwallis Road (“the Site”) in Durham. The Site had been the subject of several preliminary reviews by Greensboro. The Site was approved on January 10, 1995 after a finding by Joseph Shuldiner, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, that the Site met HUD’s Site and Neighborhood Standards.

II.

Plaintiffs have moved for a preliminary injunction against any further action by HUD and DHA in developing the Site. To challenge an action in federal court, litigants must have standing. At the pleading stage of a case, general factual allegations will suffice to establish standing, while at summary judgment, the allegations must be supported with specific facts. Lujan v. Defend[238]*238ers of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). Accordingly at this preliminary stage, the Court will not engage in a protracted analysis of Plaintiffs’ standing to challenge the actions of HUD and DHA. However, it should be noted that plaintiff, the Villages of Cornwallis Owners Association (“the Association”), may have a higher burden to meet than the individual plaintiffs who are residents and property owners in the area surrounding the Site.

An organization may gain standing in either of two ways. First, an organization may sue on its own behalf if it shows injury to itself. Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman, 455 U.S. 363, 378-79, 102 S.Ct. 1114, 1124, 71 L.Ed.2d 214 (1982). In this case, the complaint does not contain any allegations that the Association will be injured in its own right by the DHA project.

Second, an organization may also sue on behalf of its members. The Supreme Court established a three part test for organizational standing in Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission, 432 U.S. 333, 97 S.Ct. 2434, 53 L.Ed.2d 383 (1977). An association has standing to bring an action on behalf of its members if 1) the members would otherwise have standing to sue in their own right, 2) the interests the organization seeks to protect are germane to the organization’s purpose, and 3) neither the claim or the relief sought requires the participation of the individual members. Id. at 343, 97 S.Ct. at 2441. A preliminary examination of these factors indicates a weakness in the Association’s ability to meet the second prong. The complaint alleges “[t]he primary purpose of the Association is to perform the duties and obligations of the Homeowners Association as set forth in the certain Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions [as recorded in the Register of Deeds’ office].” This allegation does not address whether one of the Association’s purposes is to prevent an undue minority concentration in the area surrounding the neighborhoods represented by the Association. Because this case is at a preliminary stage and no problem appears to be present with regard to the individual plaintiffs, the Court will proceed to address the motion as presented by all Plaintiffs.

III.

In Direx Israel v. Breakthrough Medical Corp., 952 F.2d 802 (4th Cir.1991), the Fourth Circuit elucidated the framework under which a motion for a preliminary injunction should be analyzed. Direx Israel requires analysis of four factors: (1) the irreparable harm to the plaintiff if an injunction is not granted, (2) the likelihood of harm to the defendant if an injunction is granted, (3) the likelihood that the plaintiff will succeed on the merits, (4) and the public interest. Id. at 812. The plaintiff bears the burden of proof on these factors. Id. The irreparable harm to the plaintiff and the potential harm to the defendant are the two most important factors. Indeed, without a clear showing of actual and imminent irreparable harm, the inquiry need proceed no farther. Id. at 812 (citations omitted).

A. Irreparable Harm to Plaintiffs

The first factor to be considered in evaluating whether a preliminary injunction should issue is the likelihood of irreparable harm. Direx Israel, 952 F.2d at 812. Plaintiffs have the burden of making a clear showing that absent the injunction, they will suffer irreparable harm. Id.

In arguing that they will suffer irreparable harm if an injunction does not issue, Plaintiffs cite Gresham v. Windrush Partners, Ltd., 730 F.2d 1417 (11th Cir.1984). Gresham, an Eleventh Circuit case, holds that irreparable harm may be presumed from a showing of discrimination and violations of fair housing statutes. Id. at 1423. The Eleventh Circuit stated that discrimination in housing almost always produces irreparable injury. The court noted that a person who has been discriminated against must still find housing, that due to the housing market the available housing could become full, rendering the court powerless to deliver relief, and that monetary relief cannot remedy completely the loss of safe, decent, integrated housing. Id. at 1424.

[239]*239This case differs from Gresham on both legal and factual grounds. First, under Fourth Circuit precedent, a court must examine irreparable injury before the merits are examined. In contrast, the standards discussed in Gresham do not appear to require the same sequential analysis dictated by Direx Israel. Second, in terms of factual comparisons, the plaintiff in Gresham was a black female attempting to locate subsidized housing. She was turned away from an apartment complex due to her race and was concerned that she would not be able to locate subsidized housing in an integrated area.

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894 F. Supp. 236, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10928, 1995 WL 457848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/villages-of-cornwallis-owners-assn-v-durham-housing-authority-ncmd-1995.