Oxford House-C v. City of St. Louis

• Decision Date: 23 February 1996
• Docket Number: HOUSE-C,94-3073,Nos. 94-1600,s. 94-1600
• Citation: 77 F.3d 249
• Parties: , 14 A.D.D. 644, 7 NDLR P 445 OXFORD, an unincorporated association; Oxford House, Inc., a Delaware not-for-profit corporation; Oxford House-W, an unincorporated association; Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol & Drug Abuse; Missouri Department of Mental Health, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS, a Body Corporate, Defendant-Appellant. Missouri Municipal League; City of Columbia, Missouri; City of Clayton, Missouri; The National Fair Housing Alliance; The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; United States of America; American Civil Liberties Union, of Eastern Missouri, Amicus Curiae. OXFORD, an unincorporated association; Oxford House, Inc., a Delaware not-for-profit corporation; Oxford House-W, an unincorporated association; Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol & Drug Abuse; Missouri Department of Mental Health, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS, a Body Corporate, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 249

77 F.3d 249

64 USLW 2536, 14 A.D.D. 644, 7 NDLR P 445

OXFORD HOUSE-C, an unincorporated association; Oxford

House, Inc., a Delaware not-for-profit corporation; Oxford

House-W, an unincorporated association; Missouri Department

of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol & Drug Abuse;

Missouri Department of Mental Health, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS, a Body Corporate, Defendant-Appellant.

Missouri Municipal League; City of Columbia, Missouri;

City of Clayton, Missouri; The National Fair Housing

Alliance; The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental

Health Law; United States of America; American Civil

Liberties Union, of Eastern Missouri, Amicus Curiae.

OXFORD HOUSE-C, an unincorporated association; Oxford

House, Inc., a Delaware not-for-profit corporation; Oxford

House-W, an unincorporated association; Missouri Department

of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol & Drug Abuse;

Missouri Department of Mental Health, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS, a Body Corporate, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 94-1600, 94-3073.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Sept. 12, 1995.

Decided Feb. 23, 1996.

James J. Wilson, St. Louis, Missouri, argued (Ronnie L. White, City Counselor, Julian L. Bush, Asso. City Counselor and Michael A. Garvin, Asst. City Counselor, on the brief), for appellant.

Ann B. Lever, St. Louis, Missouri, argued (Susan A. Alverson and Herbert A. Eastman, St. Louis, Missouri, and Barbara J. Wood and Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General of Missouri, Jefferson City, Missouri, on the brief), for appellees.

Marie K. McElderry, Washington, DC, argued (Edward L. Dowd, Jr., United States Attorney, Deval L. Patrick and David K. Flynn, Washington, DC, on the brief), for amicus curiae.

Before FAGG, HENLEY, and HANSEN, Circuit Judges.

FAGG, Circuit Judge.

In this handicap discrimination case, we consider whether the City of St. Louis violated the Federal Fair Housing Act and Rehabilitation Act by enforcing the City's zoning code to limit the number of residents in two group homes for recovering substance abusers. We conclude the City acted lawfully.

Oxford House-C and Oxford House-W are self-supporting, self-governing group homes for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts in the City of St. Louis. The Oxford Houses provide a family-like atmosphere in which the residents support and encourage each other to remain clean and sober, and immediately expel any resident who uses drugs or alcohol. The Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (DMH/ADA), helped establish the Oxford Houses and provides them with technical support. The houses also receive assistance from Oxford House, Inc., a national organization of Oxford Houses across the country.

Oxford House-C and Oxford House-W are located in St. Louis neighborhoods zoned for single family dwellings. The city zoning code's definition of single family dwelling includes group homes with eight or fewer unrelated handicapped residents. St. Louis, Mo., Rev.Code tit. 26, § 26.20.020(A)(1) (1994). After city inspections revealed that more than eight recovering men were living at each Oxford House, the City cited the houses for violating the eight-person limit.

Rather than applying for a variance excepting them from the eight-person rule, the Oxford Houses, the DMH/ADA, and Oxford House, Inc. (collectively Oxford House) brought this lawsuit against the City, contending the City's attempt to enforce the rule violated the Fair Housing Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3631 (1988), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794(a) (1994), and other federal laws. The City brought a counterclaim asking the district court to enjoin the Oxford Houses from violating the City's ordinances. Holding the City had violated the Fair Housing Act and the Rehabilitation Act by enforcing the eight-member limit against the Oxford Houses, the district court enjoined the City from using its zoning code to prevent the Oxford Houses from operating with their existing number of residents, ten in Oxford House-C and twelve in Oxford House-W. The district court also denied the City's counterclaim. Oxford House-C v. City of St. Louis, 843 F.Supp. 1556, 1584 (E.D.Mo.1994). The City appeals. We reverse the judgment for Oxford House, vacate the injunction, and remand the counterclaim for further consideration.

We first review the district court's decision that the City violated the Fair Housing Act. Attempting to avoid the Act's requirements altogether, the City contends Congress exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause by prohibiting handicap discrimination in the 1988 amendments to the Act. We disagree. Congress had a rational basis for deciding that housing discrimination against the handicapped, like other forms of housing discrimination, has a substantial effect on interstate commerce. See Morgan v. Secretary of Hous. & Urban Dev., 985 F.2d 1451, 1455 (10th Cir.1993). We also reject the City's contention that under 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(1), the City's limits on the number of unrelated people who can live together in a single family residential zone are exempt from the Act's requirements. The Supreme Court recently held § 3607(b)(1) only exempts total occupancy limits intended to prevent overcrowding in living quarters, not ordinances like the City's that are designed to promote the family character of a neighborhood. City of Edmonds v. Oxford House, Inc., --- U.S. ----, ----, 115 S.Ct. 1776, 1779, 131 L.Ed.2d 801 (1995). In short, the City must comply with the Act.

The Act prohibits the City from making a dwelling unavailable to handicapped people on the basis of their handicap. 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(1). In fact, the Act requires the City to make reasonable accommodations in its generally applicable zoning ordinances when necessary to give a handicapped person "equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling." Id. § 3604(f)(3)(B); Smith & Lee Assocs., Inc. v. City of Taylor, 13 F.3d 920, 924 (6th Cir.1993). The Act also prohibits the City from interfering with handicapped individuals' exercise of their equal housing rights. 42 U.S.C. § 3617. The City does not contest the district court's conclusion that the Oxford House residents are handicapped within the meaning of the Fair Housing Act because they are recovering addicts. The issue is whether the City has unlawfully discriminated against, failed to accommodate, and interfered with the housing rights of these handicapped men.

Rather than discriminating against Oxford House residents, the City's zoning code favors them on its face. The zoning code allows only three unrelated, nonhandicapped people to reside together in a single family zone, but allows group homes to have up to eight handicapped residents. St. Louis, Mo., Rev.Code, tit. 26, §§ 26.08.160, 26.20.020(A)(1) (1994). Oxford House's own expert witness testified Oxford Houses with eight residents can provide significant therapeutic benefits for their members. The district court nevertheless found the City's zoning ordinances are discriminatory because the eight-person limit would destroy the financial viability of many Oxford Houses, and recovering addicts need this kind of group home. Even if the eight-person rule causes some financial hardship for Oxford Houses, however, the rule does not violate the Fair Housing Act if the City had a rational basis for enacting the rule. Familystyle of St. Paul, Inc. v. City of St. Paul, 923 F.2d 91, 94 (8th Cir.1991).

We conclude the eight-person rule is rational. Cities have a legitimate interest in decreasing congestion, traffic, and noise in residential areas, and ordinances restricting the number of unrelated people who may occupy a single family residence are reasonably related to these legitimate goals. Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, 9, 94 S.Ct. 1536, 1541, 39 L.Ed.2d 797 (1974). The City does not need to assert a specific reason for choosing eight as the cut-off point, rather than ten or twelve. "[E]very line drawn by a legislature leaves some out that might well have been included. That exercise of discretion, however, is a legislative, not a judicial, function." Id. at 8, 94 S.Ct. at 1540. We conclude the City's eight-person restriction has a rational basis and thus is valid under the Fair Housing Act. Familystyle, 923 F.2d at 94.

The district court found the City discriminated against the Oxford Houses by singling them out for zoning inspections and enforcement proceedings because of the residents' handicap. This finding is clearly erroneous because Oxford House did not show the City ignored zoning violations by nonhandicapped peopl...