The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center today won a decision in federal court, striking down a September 2008 St. Bernard Parish moratorium on multi-family housing.  The moratorium was found to be in conflict with a February 2008 ordinance that struck down a previous multi-family moratorium and a ban on rentals to non-blood relatives that were passed in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 

In her ruling, Judge Helen G. Berrigan wrote that “the Court concludes that the Parish and Councils intent in enacting and continuing the moratorium is and was racially discriminatory,” and that “the evidence also the supports the findings of discriminatory intent.”

Judge Berrigan has ordered the parish to rescind its moratorium on housing developments with five or more units.

James Perry, Executive Director of the GNOFHAC and mayoral candidate, commented that “Even before Hurricane Katrina local municipalities sought to limit affordable rental opportunities. These limitations have both strangled opportunity and limited housing opportunities for people of color and people with disabilities. Judge Berrigan’s ruling today sends a strong message to elected officials in our region: officials must allow the development of affordable rental housing in our region.”

Tags: Fair Housing Action Center, GNOFHAC, housing, housing discrimination, multi-family moratorium

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Archived News, El Rafa. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.