The Tension between Local Zoning and the Development of Elderly Housing: Analyzing the Use of the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act to Override Zoning Decisions
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The Tension Between Local Zoning and the Development of
Elderly Housing: Analyzing the Use of the Fair Housing Act and
the Americans with Disabilities Act to Override Zoning Decisions
'It's a nice [potential elderly housing] project, but not for this location.'
'We [the developer] tried to work with the neighborhood on this [assisted-
living project], but we met up with an irresistible force [neighborhood
residents] that did not want to work with us.2
Although most people would agree that providing healthful, appropriate
housing options to seniors is a worthwhile endeavor, some municipalities and
neighborhood groups are not receptive to certain types of elderly housing
facilities in residential areas of their neighborhoods.3 Does the refusal of
municipalities to allow the development of elderly housing projects represent
housing discrimination against the handicapped under federal law? Or, are
communities merely exercising their right to control the development and
future of their neighborhoods?
I. INTRODUCTION
America's growing elderly population has created a tremendous demand for
elderly housing and related social services.4 Both the aging of the baby
1. Dianne Williamson, West Side Kept Safe From Elderly; Neighborhood Blocks Assisted Living
Complex, TELEGRAM & GAZETrE (Worcester, Mass.), Oct. 27, 1996, at BI (quoting Gary S. Rosen, Councilor-
at-Large).
2. Nick Kotsopoulos, Developer Drops Assisted Living Project, TELEGRAM & GAzETrE (Worcester,
Mass.), Oct. 22, 1996, at BI (quoting Stephen D. Burwick, attorney).
3. See Caitlin Francke, Facility for Aged Loses Bid to Grow; Ruling in Howard Case Could Boost
Resistance by Neighbors of Homes, BALT. SUN, Sept. 4, 1997, at lB. Francke quotes Stephen G. Sam Moxley,
Bait. County Councilman, stating, I am not looking to do away with [assisted living] homes, but I don't want
to change the character of the neighborhood. Id. Arlene Rosenberg, co-president of a resident association is
quoted as saying, [e]very time a house goes up for sale, everyone worries that it'll be bought and turned into
a[n] [elderly housing] facility. Barbara Pash, Shades of Gray: An Influx of Senior Housing is Changing the
Face ofPikesville, BALT. JEWISH TIMES, June 12, 1998, at 1, available in 1998 WL 11326024.
4. See Gabrielle DeGroot, Elderly Housing Market Has Exploded to Meet Demands of Older
Population, WARFILD'S Bus. REc., Apr. 15, 1996, at 1, available in 1996 WL 8797806 (discussing inability
of government to meet elderly demand for housing and services); Ted Griggs, Windermere Plans Apartments
for Elderly, THE ADvocATE (Baton Rouge, La.), Jan. 16, 1997, at ID (noting demand for elderly facilities will](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/sufflr33&div=22&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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