Hovsons, Inc. v. Township of Brick
1996 WL 401558, 89 F.3d 1096 (1996)
Premium Feature
Subscribe to Lexplug to listen to the Case Podcast.
Rule of Law:
Under the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA), a municipality has an affirmative duty to make reasonable accommodations for handicapped persons, which requires it to grant a variance from a zoning ordinance to allow construction of housing for the disabled in a residential zone unless the municipality can prove this accommodation would cause an undue burden or fundamentally alter its zoning scheme.
Facts:
- Hovsons, Inc., a developer of senior housing, proposed to build a 210-bed nursing home called 'Holiday Village' on a parcel of land in Brick Township.
- The proposed site was located in the Township's R-R-2 zone, designated as a 'Rural Residential-Adult Community Zone.'
- Brick Township's zoning ordinance excluded nursing homes from all fifteen of its residential zones, including the R-R-2 zone.
- The ordinance permitted nursing homes only in a single 'hospital support zone,' which was a commercial area that was already extensively developed with few vacant parcels.
- The New Jersey Department of Health issued Hovsons a 'certificate of need,' citing an acute need for nursing home facilities in Brick Township.
- The proposed nursing home's density, architecture, and design were comparable to the planned residential retirement communities, which were a permitted use in the R-R-2 zone.
Procedural Posture:
- Hovsons applied for a variance from the Brick Township Zoning Board of Adjustment, which was denied after two years of hearings.
- Hovsons challenged the denial in the New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division, which reversed the denial and remanded.
- On remand, the Zoning Board again denied the application.
- The Law Division then issued an order directing the variance be issued, but the New Jersey Appellate Division reversed that order, reinstating the denial.
- The New Jersey Supreme Court denied Hovsons' petition for certification.
- Hovsons filed a new suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against the Township of Brick, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA).
- Following a bench trial, the district court entered judgment for the Township of Brick, finding that it had not violated the FHAA's reasonable accommodation provision.
- Hovsons (appellant) appealed the judgment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Township (appellee/cross-appellant) cross-appealed a preliminary ruling.
Premium Content
Subscribe to Lexplug to view the complete brief
You're viewing a preview with Rule of Law, Facts, and Procedural Posture
Issue:
Does a township's refusal to grant a zoning variance to allow the construction of a nursing home in a residential zone violate the Fair Housing Amendments Act's requirement to provide 'reasonable accommodations' for handicapped persons?
Opinions:
Majority - Cowen, Circuit Judge
Yes. A township's refusal to grant a zoning variance for a nursing home in a residential zone violates the Fair Housing Amendments Act's (FHAA) requirement to provide reasonable accommodations. The FHAA imposes an affirmative duty on municipalities to make exceptions to their zoning rules to afford people with disabilities the same opportunity to housing as those without disabilities. The burden is on the municipality to prove that the requested accommodation is unreasonable by showing it would impose undue financial and administrative burdens or fundamentally alter the nature of its zoning program. Here, Brick Township's blanket exclusion of nursing homes from all residential zones is the kind of segregation the FHAA was enacted to prevent, and the Township failed to prove that granting the variance would fundamentally undermine its zoning scheme or cause an undue hardship.
Analysis:
This decision significantly strengthens the FHAA's 'reasonable accommodation' provision in the context of municipal zoning. It clarifies that municipalities cannot simply point to an existing, albeit impractical, zone for disabled housing to satisfy their obligations. The ruling establishes that the burden of proof rests on the government entity to justify denying an accommodation, making it more difficult for municipalities to use zoning as a barrier to integrating disabled individuals into residential communities. This precedent empowers developers of housing for protected classes to challenge restrictive ordinances and reinforces the FHAA's goal of deinstitutionalization and community integration.
Unlock the full brief for Hovsons, Inc. v. Township of Brick