Relman Colfax filed a lawsuit in federal court with co-counsel Smith & Fawer, LLC against the City of New Orleans, Louisiana on behalf of Stanton Square, LLC, a housing developer. The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants delayed, prevented, and otherwise interfered with Plaintiff’s attempts to construct The Village at English Turn, a multi-family affordable housing apartment complex for working and middle-class individuals and families in the City of New Orleans.
As alleged in the complaint, New Orleans has a profound lack of quality, affordable housing for working and middle-class citizens. The Village, if built, would help alleviate the need for affordable housing, particularly among African Americans, Hispanics, and families with children. Areas like Lower Coast Algiers, where the Village was set to be built, have been deemed by the City as “high opportunity” areas where it is “highly important that zoning laws assist private development of affordable housing to address the overwhelming need.”
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the complaint alleges that the City Council’s actions have unlawfully discriminated against potential residents on the basis of race and familial status; have a disparate impact on the basis of race and familial status; and perpetuate segregation in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
On September 16, 2024, the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in support of Plaintiff. The Department of Justice asserted that Plaintiff has plausibly alleged that in the City of New Orleans, in enacting the moratorium and taking steps recently to permanently downzone the property, acted with discriminatory intent in violation of the FHA and Title VI.
The Relman Colfax litigation team consists of Yiyang Wu, Reed Colfax, and Ted Olds, with paralegal assistance from Taylor Gaskins. Our co-counsel are Randall A. Smith and Reagan R. Wilty of Smith & Fawer, LLC, based in New Orleans.
The complaint may be found here.