Norfolk, VA - A new federal Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed this week alleges that the city of Norfolk and the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, with approval and financing from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, have embarked on a redevelopment plan that forces every resident of several public housing developments in the St. Paul’s Quadrant out of their homes.
The complaint alleges that the redevelopment plan as it stands will illegally force residents into segregated housing within the city or out of Norfolk altogether before any replacement housing has been built. Further, the plan fails to provide sufficient affordable housing for their return when the area is redeveloped. The lawsuit alleges that this is another case of gentrification at the expense of the African American residents of the city.
The lawsuit was filed by Hogan Lovells, the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on behalf of residents of Tidewater Gardens and Calvert Square, the residents of the St. Paul’s Quadrant, its tenant group, a Norfolk resident long waiting for affordable housing and harmed by the demolition of the three public housing communities, and the New Virginia Majority.
The lawsuit alleges that the city and NHRA’s redevelopment plan is racially discriminatory and that HUD, by financing the plan without requiring necessary changes to assure that the African American residents of the area do not suffer racial discrimination, violated its statutory duty to further fair housing.
Tidewater Gardens, Calvert Square, and Young Terrace are three public housing communities that makeup St. Paul’s Quadrant, and collectively comprise 1,674 housing units with about 4,200 residents, half of which are children and nearly all of whom are African American.
“It is very important for everyone out here to have a place to stay. But so far the process has not been fair, which is why we needed to file this case,” said Evonne Bryant, a resident of Tidewater Gardens whose home is scheduled to be demolished in Phase 1 of the Redevelopment Plan.
While the $30 million grant from HUD only addresses Tidewater Gardens, the city and NRHA have approved the demolition and redevelopment of all three housing projects, which will displace every resident of St. Paul’s Quadrant. New “mixed-income” housing will be developed in the area, most of it is unaffordable to current residents. Upon completion, only 600 units of new housing are planned to be reserved for the current residents.
“The actions taken by the city and approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in this matter represent a clear violation of the Fair Housing Act,” said Hogan Lovells lawyer Mallik Yamusah. “This lawsuit seeks to ensure that federally funded redevelopment projects do not continue to perpetuate segregation and are not built at the expense of residents, something that is happening right here in Norfolk within its St. Paul’s Quadrant.”
"We are proud to stand with public housing residents in Norfolk who are fighting against mass displacement," said Thomas Silverstein, Counsel in the Fair Housing & Community Development Project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "Ensuring that redevelopment policies actually benefit communities of color and redress the legacy of segregation and redlining is one of the most important racial justice issues of our time."
“Despite several requests from residents for the city to reconsider the feasibility of this plan, the city continues to push forward with its displacement plan that will accelerate housing instability and push many people out of the city altogether,” said Lafeetah Byrum, Climate Justice Lead Organizer for New Virginia Majority.
You can read the full complaint here.
The Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia team is led by Sarah Black. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law team is led by Thomas Silverstein and Sarah Carthen Watson. The Hogan Lovells team is led by Stanley J. Brown, Thomas M. Trucksess, David W.D. Mitchell, and Mallik N. Yamusah.
###
Hogan Lovells is a leading global legal practice providing business-oriented legal advice and high-quality service across its exceptional breadth of practices to clients around the world.
Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia is a non-profit law firm dedicated to meeting the civil legal needs of the low-income community in Hampton Roads. Our mission is both to serve the individual justice needs of our clients and to fight the inequities created by poverty itself. We have been providing free legal assistance to the poor of our community since 1966.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Now in its 56th year, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is continuing its quest to “Move America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and voting rights.
New Virginia Majority builds power in working-class communities of color, in immigrant communities, among LGBTQ people, women, youth, and progressives across the Commonwealth. We organize for racial and economic justice through large-scale political education, mobilization, and advocacy around dozens of issues. We fight for a Virginia that is just, democratic, and environmentally sustainable. For more information, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook at @NewVAMajority.
Press Contacts:
- Sarah Black, Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia, [email protected]
- Debra Freeman, New Virginia Majority, [email protected]
- Lorelle Atkinson, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, [email protected]
- Mallik Yamusah, Hogan Lovells, [email protected]