NOEL L. HILLMAN, District Judge.
This case involves the redevelopment of the Mount Holly Gardens neighborhood (the "Gardens") in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Plaintiffs are low-income, African-American, Hispanic and "white" residents of the Gardens, who object to the plan because they claim they are being forcibly removed from their homes, which are being replaced in large part with new, much higher-priced market rate homes.
Currently before this Court are defendants' motions for summary judgment, which had been converted from motions to dismiss on four of plaintiffs' claims.
As this Court previously expressed on several occasions, we recognize that the Gardens redevelopment has had an effect on low-income families, and, correspondingly, minority families. The Court also recognizes that being forced from one's home is a difficult and emotional issue, compounded by the fear of being unable to afford a comparable place to live. However, as the Court has also expressed previously, plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that the Township, or the entities assisting the Township in the redevelopment and relocation services, has implemented a plan that has a disparate impact on the Gardens residents as the law defines it. Nor have they shown that the defendants have not been proceeding pursuant to a legitimate governmental interest in the least restrictive way, or have otherwise acted with discriminatory intent. Consequently, as explained more fully below, defendants' motions will be granted, and the case will be closed.
Summary judgment is appropriate where the Court is satisfied that "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law."
An issue is "genuine" if it is supported by evidence such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict in the nonmoving party's favor.
Initially, the moving party has the burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.
This Court has already analyzed plaintiffs' Fair Housing Act claim substantively in the context of plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. That analysis was adopted in the Court's most recent Opinion, which converted defendants' motions to dismiss into ones for summary judgment. That analysis found that plaintiffs had not demonstrated that the redevelopment has had a disparate impact on a protected group, or that defendants did not have a legitimate interest in the redevelopment, or that no alternative course of action would have a lesser impact. Recognizing that plaintiffs' Fair Housing Act claim had only been considered in the context of a preliminary injunction, the Court afforded plaintiffs time to gather specific facts to show a genuine issue for trial on these issues. The Court now affirms its prior decision on plaintiffs' FHA claim because plaintiffs have not provided the requisite proof to take the issues to a jury.
As a preliminary matter, plaintiffs argue that they should be afforded time for discovery, and are prejudiced in their ability to oppose the converted motions because of the lack of discovery. Plaintiffs contend that they require a look into the defendants' state of mind and intentions, as well as documents that are only within the control of defendants and, thus, unavailable to plaintiffs. Without this information, plaintiffs argue that summary judgment is premature, which is further evidenced by the fact that defendants have not even filed their answers to plaintiffs' complaint.
Although the Court recognizes the peculiar procedural history that has led to the resolution of summary judgment motions without the filing of answers or the undertaking of formal discovery, this is not a case where plaintiffs are neophytes filing an initial challenge to the Gardens redevelopment plan. Not only has there been extensive proceedings over two years in this Court, most of these issues have been thoroughly litigated in New Jersey state court over the course of several years preceding this case.
Moreover, plaintiffs do not specifically identify what information defendants hold to support their claims, and instead request discovery generally, such as depositions of key officials in order to acquire testimony as to their intent to "rid [the Township] of a minority community." (Pomar Cert., Docket No. 106-41) ("Residents are severely prejudiced by being unable to probe, at a deposition, the attitudes, intent, and motives of the Township officials who made the critical decisions to pursue the Gardens redevelopment project."). Discovery, however, cannot serve as a fishing expedition through which plaintiffs search for evidence to support conclusory speculations.
Overriding all these points with specific reference to plaintiffs' FHA claim, however, is that in order to prove their claim, none of the discovery plaintiffs claim they lack would save their allegations, as plaintiffs must present their own proof of disparate impact and a more-viable alternative. Stated several times before, Section 3604(a) of the Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to "refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer, or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of,
Plaintiffs here contend that the Gardens redevelopment plan has a disparate impact on the minorities living in the Gardens. In order to prove their claim, plaintiffs must first establish a prima facie case of disparate impact.
If a plaintiff establishes his prima facie case, the burden shifts to the defendant to demonstrate justification. The "justification must serve, in theory and practice, a legitimate, bona fide interest of the Title VIII defendant, and the defendant must show that no other alternative course of action could be adopted that would enable that interest to be served with less discriminatory impact."
Thus, it is plaintiffs' burden to show disparate impact, and if they do, it is their burden to rebut the Township's position
To support disparate impact, plaintiffs argue that the redevelopment more negatively affects minorities in Mt. Holly than non-minority residents because the redevelopment is driving out the minority population of Mt. Holly. Plaintiffs also argue that the redevelopment plan has a disparate impact on minorities because the plan is targeted at an area that is populated by mostly minorities. To support their position, plaintiffs had previously presented a report of a demographic and statistical expert, Andrew A. Beveridge, Ph.D. Dr. Beveridge opined that the redevelopment of the Gardens effectively and significantly reduces the minority population in Mt. Holly.
The Court had rejected that proof. The Court explained,
(Feb. 13, 2009 Op. at 7-8.)
In their opposition to the converted motions, plaintiffs present the same statistics, and further argue that there is disparate impact on minorities because the displaced plaintiffs will not be able to afford the new $200,000+ homes, or the $1,300 to rent these same properties.
Furthermore, under plaintiffs' logic, any action by the Township to do anything with regard to the Gardens would result in a disparate impact, simply because of the racial composition of the Gardens. The FHA (or any other civil rights law) does not contemplate that a town will never be permitted to ameliorate a blighted area inhabited mainly by minorities simply because it will affect minorities. See, e.g., City of Memphis v. Greene, 451 U.S. 100, 128 (1981) ("Because urban neighborhoods are so frequently characterized by a common ethnic or racial heritage, a regulation's adverse impact on a particular neighborhood will often have a disparate effect on an identifiable ethnic or racial group. To regard an inevitable consequence of that kind as a form of stigma so severe as to violate the Thirteenth Amendment would trivialize the great purpose of that charter of freedom.").
Finally, it is important to point out that none of the plaintiffs has been forced out of their homes by the Township without the offer of relocation services. The FHA makes it unlawful to otherwise make unavailable or deny a dwelling to any person because of race. The Township has advised the residents not to move until directed by the Township so that they will be eligible for relocation assistance. All plaintiffs, save for one who was told to leave by her landlord, are still residing in the Gardens. Thus, on this basis alone, plaintiffs' FHA claim fails.
But even if plaintiffs were able to establish their prima facie case, they have not rebutted the Township's legitimate interest in the redevelopment, and they have not shown how an alternative course of action would have a lesser impact. Plaintiffs cannot refute that redevelopment of the community to remove blight conditions is a bona fide interest of the state, as explained previously by this Court and by the New Jersey Appellate Division. (
With regard to alternatives, plaintiffs have not identified disputed issues of fact concerning whether the Township failed to show "that no alternative course of action could be adopted that would enable that interest to be served with less discriminatory impact."
In short, Plaintiffs have failed to show an impermissible disparate impact. Even if they have made such a showing, they have failed to offer sufficient evidence to rebut the Township's legitimate governmental purpose or demonstrate illegitimate discriminatory intent. Therefore, plaintiffs have not demonstrated that material disputed facts exist as to their FHA claim. Accordingly, summary judgment must be entered in favor of defendants on this claim.
Plaintiffs claim that the Township violated the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1982, the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the Equal Protection Clause of the New Jersey State Constitution. In order to prove such claims, plaintiffs must show that they were the target of intentional, purposeful discrimination by the Township.
Plaintiffs claim that through the redevelopment plan the Township is intentionally seeking to deprive plaintiffs and other African-Americans and Hispanics of the right to property and equal protection under the law. In the Court's prior Opinion denying plaintiffs' request for preliminary injunction, the Court found that plaintiffs did not demonstrate that the Township "implemented the development plan to intentionally or effectively drive out the minority population of Mt. Holly." (Feb. 9, 2009 Op. at 7.) Thus, as with their FHA claim, the Township's motion to dismiss these claims was converted to one for summary judgment, and the Court afforded plaintiffs the opportunity to provide other proof to support their claims of intentional discrimination.
In their response, plaintiffs have failed to provide such proof. As discussed above, plaintiffs first argue that summary judgment is premature, because their ability to prove these intentional discrimination claims is thwarted by the lack of discovery—namely, the depositions of Township officials. As also discussed above, however, even if such depositions were permitted, the Court doubts that any Township official will testify to his or her "discriminatory purpose" in approving the redevelopment plan.
With regard to other methods for proving discriminatory intent, plaintiffs have had years to gather such proof, including obtaining affidavits from Gardens residents or other people who have been involved in the Gardens redevelopment process. Instead, plaintiffs' brief details the Township's alleged discriminatory actions, but none of the claims are supported by any documentary or other evidence.
In contrast, the Township provides transcripts of town council and planning board meetings, where concerned citizens and council members discussed the plans for the Gardens. The Township has also provided letters and affidavits from former Gardens residents, as well as certifications from individuals involved with the redevelopment plan implementation and relocation process. These documents range in date from 2002 through early 2010. The documents show that from the very beginning, the planning board was aware of the sensitive issues that would arise as they undertook the process, the desire to have direct communication with Gardens' residents, and the Township's consideration of the residents' concerns. (
Furthermore, nowhere in plaintiffs' recitation of the Township's motives do plaintiffs specifically acknowledge the extensive deterioration, crime, and overall unsafe living conditions the Township was endeavoring to cure. Although plaintiffs feel that the Township simply wishes to remove all minorities from the town, evidence in the record supports an opposing viewpoint—that but-for the significant concern for the Gardens' resident's welfare, and the desire to make the Township as a whole a safe and pleasant town for all of its citizens, minority and non-minority, the Township would have never undertaken the long-overdue project, particularly considering the challenges that the redevelopment would, and did, inspire.
It also cannot be forgotten that the redevelopment plan has gone through three machinations, from the Gardens Area Redevelopment Plan ("GARP") in 2003, to the West Rancocas Redevelopment Plan ("WRRP") in 2005, and then to the Revised West Rancocas Redevelopment Plan in September 2008. For each of these plans, the Township Council and the builder heard extensive public comment, testimony, and written objections (as intricately detailed in plaintiffs' complaint), and even though the 2005 WRRP was approved by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and affirmed by the New Jersey state trial and appellate courts, the Township and redevelopers conducted a reevaluation of the plan which resulted in the 2008 Revised WRRP. Despite plaintiffs' claims that all the plans were adopted without meaningful consideration of the residents' objections, it seems specious to believe that the Township extensively reevaluated and revised its plans while entertaining numerous opportunities for public comment and objection simply as a ruse to mask its ultimate purpose of "ridding" Mt. Holly of its minority population.
The Court acknowledges that for every governmental action, people will object, for personal reasons, or as a champion for those who cannot speak out for themselves. The Court also acknowledges that governing officials are often not the most efficient or pragmatic in their decision-making process. When people's homes are at stake, and when issues concerning race and economic status are involved, the emotions of everyone are amplified. This is evidenced not only by the 10-year litigation concerning the Gardens' redevelopment, but by the voices of the residents who have expressed the extremes of satisfaction and displeasure with the plan. In addition to the people who feel benefitted by the Township, it is undisputable that people have felt unjustifiably wronged by the Township, which has had to make some hard decisions along the way.
The Court, however, must view the case under the legal framework that constrains this Court's consideration of these issues, rather than under the emotional contours of the situation. At this summary judgment stage in the context of what proof has been provided, and in deciding what material issues of fact need to be resolved, the weight of the record evidence demonstrates that no reasonable juror could find that the Township acted with intentional discrimination in the development and implementation of the Gardens' redevelopment plan. Moreover, no additional discovery appears calculated or even remotely likely to provide the missing proofs. Consequently, summary judgment must be entered in favor of the Township on plaintiffs' intentional discrimination claims.
Plaintiffs are also seeking punitive damages for all of their claims. The Township had moved to dismiss plaintiffs' request for punitive damages, arguing that under various legal principles, punitive damages cannot be imposed against a municipality. In the Court's previous Opinion, all of plaintiffs' punitive damages requests were dismissed, except for those relating to plaintiffs' FHA and Civil Rights Act claims (Counts One and Two). The Court reserved decision on these two claims pending consideration of the converted motions.
Even though "punitive damages can be awarded in a civil rights case where a jury finds a constitutional violation, even when the jury has not awarded compensatory or nominal damages,"
For the reasons expressed above, defendants' converted motions for summary judgment shall be granted on the four remaining claims in plaintiffs' complaint. An appropriate Order will be entered.
(August 30, 2005 Opinion, L-3027-03, at 6-7, Def. Ex. A, Docket No. 84-3.)