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RPN of Florida, Inc., Bill F., Elma W. Vs. The City of Delray
For people in recovery, finding affordable housing in a supportive environment is often difficult if not impossible. Bill F. and Elma W. are no exception. They and their housing provider RPN of Florida, Inc. filed a civil rights lawsuit in Federal Court, challenging various restrictions by the City of Delray to prevent them and other people in recovery from obtaining such housing. To understand how civil rights laws protect people in recovery is helpful. Congress passed the original Fair Housing Act (�FHA�) as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The FHA Amendments of 1988 (�FHAA�) expanded the Act by including persons with disabilities in those classes protected from discrimination in housing. People in recovery, including people who were once illegal drug users, are considered disabled under the FHAA and The American with Disabilities Act (�ADA�). The FHAA and ADA prohibit not only intentional discrimination but also discrimination resulting from policies or practices that have a disparate impact on people in recovery. The FHAA defines discrimination to include not only traditional discriminatory practices, but also �refusal to make reasonable accommodations� in rules, policies, practices or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford persons in recovery equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. The FHAA made it unlawful for any local government to discriminate in the sale or rental, or to otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any buyer or renter because of a handicap. Congress understood that one main problem for the housing for the disabled is baseless hostility on the part of neighbors and even local governments themselves. The law repudiates the use of stereotypes and ignorance, and mandates that persons with disabilities such as recovering alcoholics and addicts, be treated as individuals with equal rights. Although the Fair Housing Act has been the law of the land for thirty years, many communities have failed to embrace it. Approximately 15 months ago, RPN of Florida, Inc. approached the City of Delray with its plans to develop three dilapidated duplexes in the Seacrest area, to provide desperately needed housing for people in recovery. RPN and Recovery Programs Network, Inc., (our management company), intended to rent each dwelling unit, to four unrelated persons in recovery, who would live as a family unit. This recovery model provides a supportive environment because working as a group; the tenants develop behaviors that encourage group responsibility, which in turn helps develop individual responsibility and recovery. Recovery Programs Network is not a treatment facility. It provides recovering persons the opportunity to live in a drug and alcohol free community setting, where recovering alcoholics and addicts support each other. The city had initially granted approval for the proposed use, however RPN�s plans encountered resistance from homeowners in the Seacrest neighborhood who voiced strong opposition to renting the duplexes to people in recovery. RPN believes that the neighbors� complaints played a critical role in the city�s denial of RPN�s permit to operate. The city claimed that RPN�s proposal to rent the duplexes to unrelated persons comprised a �Boarding and Rooming House� configuration, which is prohibited in the City of Delray. RPN of Florida, Inc., Bill F. and Elma W. have sued the city, alleging that this arbitrary interpretation and enforcement of its zoning laws unlawfully discriminated against persons in recovery. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family for their endless support. I also wish to thank Bill F. and Elma W. for having the courage and conviction to stand in the face of adversity. Their determination to always continue forward humbles me. And finally my thanks to Dave Fine, The Editor of The Solution for publishing this letter. Respectfully, Stephan Blacher President/ CEO RPN of Florida, Inc, Recovery Programs Network, Inc. |