Fair Hous. Adv. v. City of Richmond Heights

• Decision Date: 03 August 1999
• Docket Number: PLAINTIFF-APPELLAN,No. 98-3523,V,DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES,98-3523
• Citation: 209 F.3d 626
• Parties: (6th Cir. 2000) FAIR HOUSING ADVOCATES ASSOCIATION, INC.,CITY OF RICHMOND HEIGHTS, OHIO, DEFENDANT, CITY OF WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, OHIO; CITY OF FAIRVIEW PARK, OHIO; CITY OF BEDFORD HEIGHTS, OHIO, Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 626

209 F.3d 626 (6th Cir. 2000)

FAIR HOUSING ADVOCATES ASSOCIATION, INC., PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,

V.

CITY OF RICHMOND HEIGHTS, OHIO, DEFENDANT,

CITY OF WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, OHIO; CITY OF FAIRVIEW PARK, OHIO; CITY OF BEDFORD HEIGHTS, OHIO, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES.

No. 98-3523

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

Argued: August 3, 1999

Decided and Filed: April 13, 2000

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Akron. No. 96-01438--James S. Gwin, District Judge.

Andrew L. Margolius (argued and briefed), Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Stephen M. Dane (briefed), Michael L. Stokes (briefed), Cooper, Walinski & Cramer, Toledo, OH, for Amicus Curiae.

Alan E. Johnson (argued and briefed), Leo R. Ward (briefed), Ward & Associates, Cleveland, OH, Charles E. Merchant (argued and briefed), City of Bedford Heights Law Director, Department of Law, Bedford Heights, OH, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before: Jones, Batchelder, and Cole, Circuit Judges.

JONES, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which COLE, J., joined. BATCHELDER, J. (pp. 638-44), delivered a separate opinion concurring in the judgment.

OPINION

Nathaniel R. Jones, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Fair Housing Advocates Association, Inc. ("Housing Advocates") filed a complaint against defendants-appellees¹ the City of Warrensville Heights, Ohio; the City of Fairview Park, Ohio; and the City of Bedford Heights, Ohio (collectively "the Cities") asserting that each city's occupancy ordinance discriminated against certain individuals based on familial status, thereby violating the Fair Housing Act ("FHA"), 42 U.S.C. § 3601, et seq. Conversely, the Cities argue that their ordinances are reasonable occupancy ordinances, enacted in full compliance with the FHA. The district court, after a bench trial, entered judgment on behalf of the Cities. See Fair Hous. Advocates Ass'n, Inc. v. City of Richmond Heights, 998 F. Supp. 825 (N.D. Ohio 1998). For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the district court's judgment.

I.

Housing Advocates is a "non-profit private fair housing corporation whose mission is to eliminate housing discrimination and promote equal opportunities in housing." J.A. at 321. Toward that end, Housing Advocates conducts seminars and workshops for housing providers and the general public, investigates possible FHA violations, and monitors various housing markets to ensure FHA compliance. In 1993, while investigating another fair housing matter, Housing Advocates discovered that each of the Cities' housing codes contained what it considered to be unusually restrictive occupancy standards. Housing Advocates conducted further tests and investigations in each of the Cities, and determined that the occupancy ordinances were unduly restrictive and discriminated against families. Defendants-appellees are suburban cities located in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, adjacent to the City of Cleveland. None of the Cities own, operate or rent any apartments.

On July 3, 1996, Housing Advocates filed a complaint against the Cities asserting that each city enacted an occupancy ordinance which impermissibly discriminates against individuals based on family status in violation of the FHA. On March 16, 1998, the district court conducted a bench trial, during which the parties presented testimony from various expert witnesses. In addition, the parties stipulated that the deposition testimony of several other witnesses could be submitted to the court in lieu of live testimony. The parties also stipulated to the admission of various exhibits.

The specific evidence presented at trial by the Housing Advocates can be summarized as follows:

Bedford Heights

Bedford Heights enacted its first occupancy ordinance in February 1989. The 1989 version of the ordinance required a minimum of 300 square feet of habitable floor space² for the first occupant and an additional 200 square feet for each additional occupant. Codified Ordinance § 1387.14, the version of the ordinance now being challenged by Housing Advocates was adopted in September 1991. The 1991 occupancy ordinance requires a minimum of 200 square feet of habitable space for the first occupant and 150 additional square feet for each additional occupant. The ordinance further requires a minimum of 650 square feet of habitable space for dwellings having four occupants.

The deposition testimony of John Marrelli, the Bedford Heights Building Commissioner at the time the ordinance was enacted, was presented at trial. Marrelli testified that the ordinance was passed, in part, due to residents' concerns about too many people living in one apartment, unsupervised children, children playing in unsafe environments (e.g., balconies, parking lots, hallways, elevators), noise, and overcrowding. Further, in response to plaintiff's counsel's question of whether "[t]he law was directed towards problems associated with children and problems that other tenants, adult tenants, were experiencing in relation to these children," Marrelli answered, "Yes." J.A. at 126. However, Marrelli also stated that in passing the ordinance, the city "did not look at [the ordinance] as having an impact on any specific group of persons....We weren't trying to define who could live in the suites, but how many." J.A. at 129. He further stated that the ordinance was passed to address "[h]ealth, safety, and sanitation" problems that could result from overcrowding. J.A. at 137. According to Marrelli, the ordinance was enacted as a result of the 1988 amendments to the FHA, and in response to landlords' and tenants' complaints regarding overcrowding. Thus, after the FHA amendments were passed, information regarding these amendments, along with a draft of the proposed ordinance, was submitted to local apartment landlords/owners. Bedford Heights, working with the landlords/owners, developed the square footage requirements included in the final version of the ordinance.

In addition, B. Allen Clutter, Vice-President and General Manager of Owners Management Company, testified at trial.³ Clutter stated that although using a square footage occupancy standard is not unreasonable, for consistency purposes, Owners Management imposes a two-person-per- bedroom standard. Clutter further admitted that he was aware that Owners Management was in violation of Bedford Heights's occupancy ordinance due to the company's two-person-per-bedroom standard. A letter Clutter wrote to the Mayor of Bedford Heights shortly before enactment of the 1989 occupancy ordinance was also presented at trial. This letter referenced the 1988 FHA Amendments and pointed out that Bedford Heights did not have an occupancy ordinance. Clutter indicated in his letter that he knew "there [would] be a great demand for family housing in this area because of the school system," and thus, he "urge[d] [the Mayor] to consider proposing such [occupancy] standards so that over crowding does not occur." J.A. at 523.

Fairview Park

Fairview Park has had an occupancy ordinance in place since 1967, and the challenged version of the ordinance, Codified Ordinance § 1357.03(d), was enacted in November 1989. Fairview Park's occupancy ordinance requires each dwelling to have a minimum of 300 square feet of habitable floor area for the first occupant and an additional 150 square feet of habitable floor area for each additional occupant. Further, a minimum of 750 square feet is required for a dwelling unit with four occupants. Fairview Park's occupancy ordinance also imposes a minimum square footage requirement regarding "habitable bedroom floor area." Pursuant to this provision, each bedroom in a dwelling unit must have a minimum of 80 square feet of habitable floor area for each bedroom⁴ for the first occupant and a minimum of 50 square feet for each additional occupant.

The deposition testimonies of David Cook, President of the Fairview Park City Council at the time the occupancy ordinance was passed, and William Minek, City Council member at the time, were also presented at trial. Both Cook and Minek testified that they could not recall specific discussions about the hearings the city held in relation to passing the ordinance, nor could they specifically recall why they voted for the ordinance. However, Cook stated that "[t]here [was] never... a discussion of children" at any of the occupancy ordinance meetings, J.A. at 77, and Minek stated that he did not recall whether "overcrowding or children-related issues" were discussed at any of the meetings, J.A. at 89.

In addition, the deposition testimony of James Thompson, Fairview Park's Assistant Building Commissioner, was also presented at trial. Thompson stated that his office receives only a few complaints each year from city residents alleging that certain dwellings are in violation of the ordinance, i.e., overcrowded. According to Thompson, upon investigating these complaints, he found that there were no violations and that there were never more occupants of a dwelling than were allowed by the ordinance.

Warrensville Heights

Warrensville Heights adopted its current occupancy ordinance, Codified Ordinance § 1377.03(d), in March 1989. This ordinance requires 350 square feet of habitable floor area for the first occupant and an additional 100 square feet for each additional occupant. Further, the occupancy ordinance requires a minimum of 650 square feet of habitable space for dwellings with four occupants.

Williams Pegues, President of the Warrensville Heights City Council at the time the ordinance was passed, testified in his deposition that he did not recall specific discussions about the ordinance. He did, however, recall that residents had expressed some concerns to him regarding problems with overcrowding, and indicated that they had moved to Warrensville Heights in order to have more space. However, according to Pegues, none of the residents expressed any concern about children. Pegues also...