| GNOFHAC wins motion for contempt against St. Bernard Parish |
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Posted: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 9:12 am
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On this past Wednesday, the Honorable Judge Helen G. Berrigan ruled that St. Bernard Parish violated a February 2008 Consent Order by banning the construction of multi-family housing in St. Bernard Parish. As a result of the ruling, the Parish and Council will be required to bear the full costs of their contemptuous conduct by paying fees, costs, and damages to the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) and Provident Realty Advisors, Inc.
The ruling is GNOFHAC’s second win in a winding case seeking to insure fair-housing opportunity in St. Bernard Parish. Over the course of the multi-year litigation, GNOFHAC has successfully challenged St. Bernard’s two multi-family construction moratoria, and an ordinance that restricted the rental of single-family residences to those related by blood to the owner of the property.
In her July 22 ruling, Judge Berrigan writes, “In short, the Parish and the Council left Plaintiffs with no choice but to take on the costly task of enforcing this Court’s Order through litigation. For this reason...the Parish and the Council should be held in contempt and ordered to make Plaintiffs whole by bearing the full costs of their contemptuous conduct prior to the date of the Court’s ruling on March 25, 2009.”
Relman & Dane PLLC represented GNOFHAC in this matter.
“Judge Berrigan’s ruling sends a strong message to both St. Bernard Parish and neighboring communities that fair and affordable housing opportunities must be allowed in our region,” GNOFHAC executive director James Perry said Wednesday.
The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) is a private non- profit organization. The Center was established by a group of concerned New Orleanians in 1995 with the help of the National Fair Housing Alliance and a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. GNOFHAC is dedicated to eliminating housing discrimination and furthering equal housing opportunities through education, outreach, advocacy, and enforcement of fair housing laws across the metro New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas.
This article was originally published in the July 27, 2009 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper |
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