[StBernard] Ruling expected today in St. Bernard fair housing case

[Westley Annis]

Ruling expected today in St. Bernard fair housing case
by Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
Friday September 11, 2009, 5:20 AM

A federal judge is expected to rule today on whether St. Bernard Parish
officials have violated the federal Fair Housing Act for the third time this
year by attempting to block developers from building four mixed-income
apartment complexes in Chalmette.

Plaintiffs Provident Realty Advisors of Dallas and the Greater New Orleans
Fair Housing Action Center were in court Wednesday in New Orleans asking U.S
District Judge Ginger Berrigan to grant the building permits necessary for
Provident to begin construction on the four 72-unit complexes and place
hefty fines on the parish if officials continue to delay.




Since April, Provident has sought a routine resubdivision of the four
properties, attending five separate meetings with the parish Planning
Commission or Parish Council. The company has been denied or delayed at each
turn, preventing it from receiving a parish building permit.

Berrigan heard testimony from several representatives of Provident and St.
Bernard Parish government staff on Wednesday about any remaining
documentation needed for Provident to receive a building permit. Planning
Commission members have brought up new concerns at each successive meeting,
saying in June that Provident needed to provide a detailed traffic study and
in August that the parish's Fire Department had unresolved concerns.

Last month Berrigan ruled that the Planning Commission denials violated the
Fair Housing Act and were "racially discriminatory, " likening them to
"stall and delay tactics" designed to ward off Provident. Berrigan's ruling
noted that African-Americans are twice as likely as white people to live in
rental housing.

A week after her Aug. 17 ruling, the Planning Commission again denied the
resubdivisions, a procedural step needed to get a building permit.

At that meeting, a lawyer for Provident noted that Berrigan's ruling said
that objections previously raised by the Planning Commission did not pertain
to a "minor resubdivision, " which is what Provident was seeking. Planning
Commission Chairman Earl Dauterive retorted that "The judge doesn't say
what's a major or minor subdivision in St. Bernard Parish, unfortunately,
the Planning Commission does, and that's who you have to answer to."

Berrigan responded directly to that comment at the end of Wednesday's
hearing, telling one of St. Bernard Parish's attorneys, "I think you would
agree that I do get to say if the action of the Planning Commission or the
Parish Council violates the Fair Housing Act and other U.S. laws, and I did
say that."

"How is this not contempt?" she asked Francis Mulhall, the attorney
representing St. Bernard.

Mulhall said the commission clearly disagreed with her ruling and that
commissioners believe they are following the proper procedures for a
resubdivision.

Berrigan said she would issue a ruling by Friday on whether St. Bernard
would be held in contempt of court, but she specifically asked officials
with the parish's Fire Department and community development department to
quickly address any outstanding concerns with Provident this week.

"I assume that everyone is now going to work diligently and in good faith to
complete this process promptly, " Berrigan said at the close of the hearing.

Wednesday's testimony revealed that most of the remaining issues, such as
signing off on a parking plan and getting a drainage permit, are
requirements needed for a building permit, not a resubdivision. St. Bernard
Parish Fire Chief Thomas Stone noted several concerns, including the fact
that one of the apartment complexes had only one way in and out.

Lawyers for Provident argued that their plans had been approved by the state
fire marshal this spring, yet the Fire Department only voiced concerns last
month