JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A year after the Justice Department opened an investigation into the city of Jacksonville's denial of a zoning variance in Springfield that would allow housing units to be built for homeless veterans, the DOJ has filed suit against the city.
The Justice Department's lawsuit says the denial was discriminatory and violated both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act.
In the lawsuit, the United States claims, “The City has discriminated on the basis of disability by preventing the development of residences for people with disabilities from operating within its Springfield Historic District.”
The DOJ lawsuit seeks an order that would restore the position Ability Housing would have been in but for the discriminatory decision.
The lawsuit does not specifically say the city must allow the project to go forward.
In March 2014, Ability Housing, a nonprofit organization focused on quality, affordable rental housing, planned to build 12 units of housing for homeless veterans on Cottage Avenue, using a grant of more than $1.3 million from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
Since then, the lawsuit says, Springfield community members complained about the plan.
The city’s planning director initially said, “The property appeared to be a permitted multiple-family dwelling under the Zoning Code.”
Then, the lawsuit says, the planning director met privately with a community member and changed his mind, calling the property, “as intended by Ability Housing ... a prohibited special use.”
Community opposition came in the form of calls and letters that were included as examples in the court filing, with one community member writing, "This is not just another apartment complex, it is a complex specifically for drug-addicted, mentally ill ‘veterans.’ We do not deserve this or want this.”
A year ago, Ability Housing also sued the city, claiming it “bent to the will of a vocal group of Springfield residents" when it denied the project. The group Disability Rights Florida filed a similar suit a week later.
Now, the federal government adds its case, saying the city, "acted intentionally, willfully, and in disregard for the rights of others."
Shannon Nazworth, executive director of Ability Housing, issued the following statement to News4Jax Tuesday evening:
"Ability Housing is aware the Department of Justice has been investigating whether the City of Jacksonville had violated the Fair Housing and Americans with Disabilities Acts and has now filed a complaint in federal court. It is regrettable the matter had to reach this point; however, we remain hopeful for a successful resolution."
The city's general counsel did not response to News4Jax's request for comment. But a city spokesperson said the city has provided more than 30,000 pages of documents in response to the DOJ investigation.