On October 9, 2024, Relman Colfax filed a complaint on behalf of Concern for Independent Living, Inc. (“Concern”) in the United States District Court in the Eastern District of New York alleging unlawful and discriminatory conduct by the Town of Southampton, New York, and Southampton’s Town Board. As alleged in the complaint, the Town prevented Concern–one of New York’s largest private providers of affordable housing and support services–from developing Liberty Gardens, a 50-unit affordable housing development, because of the mental health disabilities of some of the prospective residents. The complaint explains how this conduct violates the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and New York’s Human Rights Law.
Concern's lawsuit contends that the Town Board disregarded the Liberty Gardens Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), fabricating reasons to deny the rezoning necessary for the project. The discriminatory actions have caused significant harm to veterans and low-income people with mental health disabilities, who would benefit from the proposed development.
Concern Housing is a non-profit committed to helping individuals and families to live in the community with dignity and enhanced opportunities through the provision of housing and support services. It is one of the most trusted and largest housing agencies of this kind in New York State.
In 2017, the Town of Southampton invited Concern to submit a proposal for an affordable housing development on an undeveloped parcel behind the Southampton Full Gospel Church (the “Church Parcel”). In October 2018, at the Town’s encouragement, Concern filed its pre-application to develop and operate housing for “disabled and low-income persons,” and it requested a zone change to allow for the kind of density that would make the housing economically feasible.
After years of meticulous and thoughtful work–and more than $2.5 million in pre-development expenses–Concern ultimately proposed Liberty Gardens, a housing development that included 25 affordable and workforce housing units, alongside 25 supportive housing units specifically for veterans, particularly those with mental health disabilities. To ensure affordability for its tenants with limited income, Concern secured funding in excess of $30 million to be used exclusively at the Church Parcel. Virtually all of that funding would be lost if Concern is unable to develop at that location.
Concern responded comprehensively to every legitimate development issue raised in the course of the Town’s lengthy review process, including in the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and the FEIS, both prepared pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). In the winter of 2023, the Town Board accepted the FEIS, acknowledging that Concern had addressed all issues that had been raised.
Despite all this, on June 11, 2024, following the 2023 Town Board election, opponents of the project, including Town Board member Cindy McNamara, succeeded in pressuring the Town Board to disregard the evidence in the DEIS and FEIS, unlawfully adopt a contrary SEQRA Findings Statement, and—on the basis of this pretextual Findings Statement—deny the necessary zone change application. The Town Board’s Findings Statement is not only factually incorrect, but also unsupported by the administrative record. Furthermore—in whole or in part because of the disabilities of the prospective residents—the Town treated Liberty Gardens substantially more harshly in environmental and land use review than they had a larger affordable housing complex not designed for residents with disabilities, and that had more substantial environmental impacts.
The complaint alleges that the Town’s actual reasons for blocking Liberty Gardens arise out of their discriminatory views toward people with mental health disabilities and the resistance to lower-cost housing for such residents in a “high-end resort community.”
Moreover, Concern’s prospective tenants are now left without any supportive housing for people with disabilities in the entirety of Southampton. The Town’s actions have caused irreparable injury to veterans and other low-income people with mental health disabilities, preventing Liberty Gardens from providing community-based housing and support in a high-opportunity community.
The need for affordable and supportive housing in Southampton was severe when the Town approached Concern in 2017, and it remains severe today. Concern’s complaint seeks an injunction ordering the Town Board to approve Liberty Gardens, as well as an award of compensatory and punitive damages.
Concern’s legal action provides a path to justice and serves as a warning to municipalities considering yielding to community pressure that stigmatize individuals with disabilities. This lawsuit aims to promote the inclusion of veterans and individuals with mental health disabilities in the community.
The Relman Colfax litigation team includes Michael Allen, Rebecca Livengood, and Valerie Comenencia Ortiz, with paralegal assistance from Miriam Farah. Steven Barshov of SBarshovLaw PLLC is co-counsel.
A copy of the complaint is here.