Darst-Webbe Tenant Assn. v. St. Louis Housing
| Decision Date | 08 August 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-1777.,02-1777. |
| Citation | 339 F.3d 702 |
| Parties | Darst-Webbe Tenant Association Board, a Missouri non-profit corporation; Housing Comes First, a Missouri non-profit corporation; Peabody Tenant Association, a Missouri non-profit corporation, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. St. Louis Housing Authority, a Municipal corporation; Cheryl A. Lovell, in her official capacity as Director of the St. Louis Housing Authority; United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; Mel Martinez, in his official capacity as Secretary of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Ann B. Lever, argued, St. Louis, MO (Daniel K. Glazier and John J. Ammann, on the brief), for appellant.
Robert A. Graham, argued, Washington, D.C., for appellee (St. Louis Housing). August E. Flentje, argued, Washington, D.C., for appellee (HUD).
Before McMILLIAN and MELLOY, Circuit Judges, and LONGSTAFF,1 District Judge.
Appellants, Darst-Webbe Tenant Association Board, Peabody Tenant Association, and Housing Comes First, Inc., brought this action against the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") and the St. Louis Housing Authority ("SLHA"). This suit was intended to address grievances arising out of the implementation of revitalization plans for the Darst-Webbe and Clinton Peabody public housing complexes in St. Louis, Missouri.
This was a very complicated case that involved a total of nineteen counts, all of which were maintained throughout the proceedings in the district court. The district court resolved one count in favor of HUD after a motion for summary judgment. We affirm that decision.
The district court then held a six-day bench trial to consider the remaining eighteen counts. After the trial, the court decided two counts in favor of the appellants and enjoined the appellees from spending HOPE VI funds on the Clinton Peabody housing complex. The appellees have not appealed the district court's decision on these two counts.
The district court ruled in favor of the appellees, HUD & SLHA, on the remaining sixteen counts. The appellants have appealed the district court's decision on eight of those counts. We affirm the district court's decision on two of those counts and remand the remaining six counts for further findings by the district court.
This case involved three appellants. Darst-Webbe Tenant Association Board and Peabody Tenant Association are housing associations. The third appellant Housing Comes First, Inc. is a Missouri non-profit corporation that engages in activities designed to help the homeless and encourage affordable housing. For the purpose of this appeal, we will not determine which appellant would be entitled to any relief that the district court could order on remand. Instead, we leave that determination to the district court if it determines that the appellants have prevailed on any of the remaining six counts.
Appellee, SLHA, is a Missouri non-profit corporation, and a public housing agency. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437a(b)(6) (). Appellee, HUD, is the federal agency responsible for the administration and enforcement of various government programs designed to promote housing opportunities in the United States. The complaint specifically addressed each count against either the "Housing Authority Defendants" (SLHA) or the "Federal Defendants" (HUD) and we will consider these counts in that same manner.
In 1995, the SLHA applied for and received a $46.7 million HOPE VI grant to revitalize the Darst-Webbe, Webbe Elderly and Paul Simon Elderly public housing complexes in St. Louis, Missouri.2 The revitalization plan involved demolishing all existing units at the housing complex, and replacing them with a mixed-income housing community. The SLHA did not proceed with the revitalization as promised in the grant application. As a result, HUD placed the SLHA in default of its 1995 HOPE VI grant. The SLHA cured this default by developing a new revitalization plan in 1998. Like the 1995 plan, the 1998 revitalization plan provided for the demolition of the Darst-Webbe public housing complex. It also proposed the selective demolition of units at the Clinton Peabody public housing complex. The City of St. Louis also applied for and received a $20 million Section 108 loan guarantee for infrastructure improvements necessary to support the revitalization plan.3 HUD approved the SLHA's new revitalization plan in April of 1998 and the City's Section 108 loan guarantee in June of 2000.
The portion of the new revitalization plan addressing the Clinton Peabody public housing complex was enjoined by the district court "until such time that [HUD] might determine that the Clinton Peabody development qualifies as `severely distressed public housing' ..." Darst-Webbe Tenant Ass'n Bd., et. al. v. St. Louis Hous. Auth., et. al., Mem. Op. at 20 (E.D.Mo. Dec. 14, 2001) (emphasis in original). This portion of the district court's decision has not been appealed.4
The Darst-Webbe complex originally contained approximately 750 units. When the 1995 revitalization plan was submitted only approximately 220 of these units were occupied. At this time, all the original units have been demolished and the former Darst-Webbe tenants have been relocated. Under the 1998 revitalization plan, the SLHA plans to replace the demolished low-income housing units with a mixed income community.
The community will be composed of three types of rental units: low-income public housing, low-income tax credit, and market rate rental units. The income criteria for individuals living in these units can generally be described in the following manner. Low-income public housing units are designated for individuals with incomes below 80% of the median area income. The rent for these units is 30% of the tenant's family income. The low-income tax credit units are designated for individuals with incomes below 60% of the median area income, but the rent for these units is set at 30% of the median area income, instead of the tenant's family income. The market rate rental units will be rented at prevailing market rates and do not have an income threshold for the tenants living in them. In addition to rental units, the plan also calls for the construction of "for-sale" units.
Appellants request that more public housing units be built at the Darst-Webbe complex.5 Currently, the SLHA plans to build approximately 300 rental units (not including units designated for the elderly), of which 80 would be low-income public housing units, 82 low-income tax credit units, and 138 market rate units. Appellants request that an additional 120 low-income public housing units be built. In addition, appellants want more of the low-income public housing units to be built for larger families.
The crucial question in this case and on appeal is whether appellants have a legal basis for the relief they request. Appellants argue that the appellees have not complied with the requirements of two federal programs and are acting in violation of federal statutes designed to prevent discrimination in public housing. The two programs at the heart of this dispute are the HOPE VI program and Section 108 loan guarantees. Congress created the Homeownership & Opportunity for People Everywhere ("HOPE") program to provide grants "to carry out an urban revitalization demonstration program involving major reconstruction of severely distressed or obsolete public housing projects, to be administered by local public housing agencies." Pub.L. No. 102-389, 106 Stat 1571 (1992). The HOPE program is part of the United States Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1437 et. seq. The appellants are challenging the process involved in making, approving, and implementing the HOPE VI grant received by the SLHA.
The appellants also challenge a Section 108 loan guarantee awarded to the City of St. Louis. The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 created the Community Development Block Grant program. See 42 U.S.C. § 5301 et seq. As part of the Community Development Block Grant program, Congress authorized HUD to make Section 108 loan guarantees to local governments. 42 U.S.C. § 5308. These loan guarantees were authorized for a variety of purposes related to, inter alia, the rehabilitation of housing developments. See 42 U.S.C. § 5308(a). In this case, the City of St. Louis (a distinct and separate entity from the SLHA) applied for a Section 108 loan guarantee to support ancillary projects related to the SLHA's revitalization plans. These projects were primarily targeted at improving the infrastructure surrounding the developments, e.g. building new streets and sidewalks. The appellants are challenging HUD's approval of this loan guarantee because they claim the City obtained it through making inaccurate certifications.
Also at issue in this case are federal statutes designed to remedy and prevent discrimination in the provision of public housing. Congress required HUD, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to affirmatively further fair housing in implementing programs for which it was responsible. 42 U.S.C. § 3608(e) (). Congress also prohibited discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin" in the sale or rental of a dwelling....
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