The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement / Conciliation Agreement with city and county agencies in Denver to resolve charges of discrimination related to a refusal to accommodate a household with a disabled resident.
The agreement stems from a complaint that was filed by a same-sex, mixed race couple who applied to the City of Denver for a variance to the local dwelling unit (ADU) zoning code to construct an ADU with necessary accessibility features. These accessibility features were meant for the disabled mother of one of the complainants.
In addition to the alleged disability discrimination, the complaint also alleged that the city’s reasonable accommodation request denial was based on the complainants’ race and sexual orientation. HUD determined the city fell short of compliance with the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing the ADU zoning code variance in this case.
Under the terms of the agreement, the complainants will receive $115,000 and the city will create a reasonable accommodation policy and guidelines that includes the ability to track reasonable accommodations requests and complete training requirements.
The respondents in the case were the City and County of Denver, Denver’s Office of Community Planning and Development, and Denver’s Board of Adjustments.
“Local governments are required to make reasonable accommodations to zoning laws and other land use regulations to ensure people with disabilities have equal access to housing,” said Diane M. Shelley, HUD’s principal deputy assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, adding that her department “is committed to ensuring that federal funding recipients comply with our nation’s fair housing laws.”
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The federal government is using ADA rules to circumvent local zoning laws. Adding a ADU-additional dwelling unit is very complex. If the house is zoned for single family then a multi-family variance is needed or complete change of zoning. The ADU down the road if built a certain way could be a rental unit unto itself. If the ADU is the old fashioned “mother-in-law” unit then if the setbacks are still viable without a variance of building standards then no special zoning or ADA situations would have arisen.Let me say that my wife is blind. I am somewhat sympathetic to ADA laws and regulations. I still don’t like the “camel’s nose under the tent” with federal intrusion on local zoning ordinances. I was a FHA inspector for 10 years. I was a real estate appraiser for 34 years. I was a real estate broker for 42 years. I’ve been through some of this process. There are a lot of particulars that this article does not cover to give us real estate professional a total story on what happened from beginning to end. Basically I’m a state rights fellow as you can see.
Yes, we can see that you are 🙂 . You make valid points about the missing data and the possibility of a slippery slope from variances.
Greg Spudic For someone who has a disabled wife, you are totally insensitive to the needs of that significant population of citizens. No need to try to balance out your position with your appraisal and real estate resume.
Ignorance is bliss so you must be one happy fellow. Carry on Comrade. You appear to know little to nothing about the original intent of the ADA going back to around 1990 and its intended implementation into our society. This appears to be an over reach by the federal government and a possible dangerous precedent going forward. With Trump in office hopefully this kind of federal strong arming will slow or cease. Remember Denver is a blue city and Colorado is a blue state.