City of Edmonds v. Oxford House, Inc.

115 S.Ct. 1776 (U.S. May 15, 1995) ; Clearinghouse Number: 50748

Description

Zoning Ordinance Restricting Number of Unrelated Individuals But Not Number of Family Members in Single-Family Dwelling Is Not Exempt from Fair Housing Act

Abstract

The Supreme Court has held that petitioner city’s zoning code definition of “family” is not a maximum occupancy restriction exempt from the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(1). Petitioner city had cited respondent, the operator of a group home for recovering alcoholics and drug abusers, with violation of the city’s zoning code. The code provides that the occupants of single-family dwellings must compose a “family,” defined as “persons [without regard to number] related by genetics, adoption, or marriage, or a group of five or fewer [unrelated] persons.” The district court held that the zoning code was exempt from the FHA as a reasonable restriction on the maximum number of persons permitted to occupy a building. The Ninth Circuit reversed. The Supreme Court found that, although rules that cap the total number of occupants allowed in a dwelling in order to prevent overcrowding clearly fall within section 3607(b)(1)’s exemption from the FHA, rules designed to preserve the family character of a neighborhood, fastening on the composition of households rather than on the total number of occupants living in a dwelling, do not. The Court found that the city code provisions invoked against respondent are classic examples of a use restriction and complementing family composition rule, which do not cap the number of people who may live in a dwelling but direct that dwellings be used to house families. Dissenting, Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Scalia and Justice Kennedy, argued that, in order to take advantage of the exemption from the FHA, zoning laws need not impose restrictions establishing an absolute maximum number of occupants but rather need only impose a restriction “regarding” the maximum number of occupants.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Docket Date
1995-05-15 00:00:00+00:00

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