In its ongoing effort to preserve affordable housing east of the Anacostia River and to assist the residents of Barry Farm to preserve their community, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (“Committee”) sought documents from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) regarding the redevelopment of the property. HUD has ignored the request and stymied the Committee’s advocacy on behalf of its clients.
In response to HUD’s failure to meet its obligations under the law, the Committee filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to compel HUD to produce records that the Committee requested. The information sought relates to the redevelopment at Barry Farm, a public housing property operated by the District of Columbia Housing Authority (“DCHA”) in the Southeast quadrant of the District. The Committee sought copies of agency records pertaining to the application for and approval of the demolition and disposition of Barry Farm under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that it submitted on June 11, 2018. In addition to the demolition and disposition documents and communications, the Committee requested documents regarding the number of vacant units and bedroom sizes managed by DCHA at various points in time and regarding whether DCHA’s relocation efforts at the property are consistent with fair housing laws. HUD has failed to produce any records in response to the request, but has not cited any reason that would entitle the agency to withhold the records from the public.
In October 2014, DCHA and its developer partners filed a planned unit development (or planned redevelopment) application with the District of Columbia Zoning Commission to demolish and redevelop the property. The DCHA also had to seek official authorization from HUD to proceed with the demolition that together with the DC Zoning Commission’s approval of its redevelopment plan would allow it to move forward with the redevelopment of Barry Farm.
According to Brook Hill, Associate Counsel at the Committee: “When we confronted the HUD staff with the delay, a staff member suggested to me in an email that he needed to give requests that were subject to FOIA suits higher priority. We decided to take HUD up on its offer by filing suit ourselves.” Under FOIA, a government agency such as HUD must respond to a public records request within 30 days.
Foley & Lardner LLP represents the Committee in the lawsuit. Together, Foley and the Committee have represented the Barry Farm Tenants and Allies Association and Empower DC in their effort to ensure that the redevelopment of Barry Farm meets the needs of the existing and displaced public housing tenants and community members, and particularly that the redevelopment does not discriminate against families by disproportionately failing to provide suitable family-sized housing. Foley and the Committee filed suit against the DCHA and its associated developers in 2017 to challenge the redevelopment plan on grounds that it violated the Fair Housing Act and D.C. Human Rights Act. That redevelopment plan—part of a separate administrative process—was later vacated by the D.C. Court of Appeals and withdrawn by DCHA and the developers. Currently, the Barry Farm property is in the process of being demolished, and the remaining tenants are being forced to relocate or face the threat of eviction.
“Foley looks forward to continuing to work together with the Committee on this critical issue of securing fair and affordable housing for Barry Farm residents,” said Foley & Lardner associate Olivia Singelmann, who was brought on to the Foley team to handle the FOIA issues.
ABOUT THE WASHINGTON LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE: The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs was established in 1968 to provide pro bono legal services to address issues of discrimination and entrenched poverty. Since then, it has successfully handled thousands of civil rights cases on behalf of individuals and groups in the areas of fair housing, equal employment opportunity, public accommodations, immigrant rights, disability rights, public education, and prisoners’ rights. For more information, please visit www.washlaw.org.
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CONTACT
Gregg A. Kelley, Director of Development & Communications, Washington Lawyers’ Committee
202-319-1070 or [email protected]
Jill Chanen, External Communications Manager, Foley & Lardner LLP, 312-832-4500 or [email protected]