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Full-Text Articles in Law

Exclusionary Housing Vs. Fair Housing: The Need For State Legislation, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher Oct 2009

Exclusionary Housing Vs. Fair Housing: The Need For State Legislation, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

On September 23rd, Westchester County settled a lawsuit with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York under which it agreed to develop and carry out an implementation plan to construct 750 affordable housing units in Westchester communities with low percentages of African American and Hispanic households. Under this agreement, the County will provide over $50 million to create housing in these communities; if needed, the County agreed to withhold benefits from the communities or to bring litigation against them if the 750 units are not constructed. The County will be supervised by …


Settlement Raises Questions About Housing Obligations, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher Oct 2009

Settlement Raises Questions About Housing Obligations, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is well established that zoning regulations which operate in an exclusionary capacity are unconstitutional. However, a bright line has yet to be drawn by either the New York legislature or the New York courts as to what constitutes an exclusionary zoning provision. This article examines several restricted holdings of the New York courts and compares the limited New York legislation, such as the 2008 Long Island Workforce Housing Act, to more powerful state legislation from surrounding states, which have had more success abolishing exclusionary zoning.


Unaffordable “Affordable” Housing: Challenging The U.S. Department Of Housing And Urban Development Area Median Income, Michael E. Stone Jul 2009

Unaffordable “Affordable” Housing: Challenging The U.S. Department Of Housing And Urban Development Area Median Income, Michael E. Stone

Center for Social Policy Publications

There is no such thing as “affordable” housing. Affordability is not a characteristic of housing: It is a relationship between housing and people. For some people, all housing is affordable, no matter how expensive. For others, no housing is affordable, no matter how cheap.


The Foreclosure Crisis And The Anti-Fragmentation Principle In State Property Law, David A. Dana Jan 2009

The Foreclosure Crisis And The Anti-Fragmentation Principle In State Property Law, David A. Dana

Faculty Working Papers

Secured credit in homes has been divided and over-divided and spun into so many separate interests that economically rational, socially beneficial modifications of loans are impossible. The mortgage story is a new one but the excessive fragmentation of property and the creation of waste and inefficiency is not new. And our legal tradition of state property law has an answer, in the form of an anti-fragmentation principle. Consistent with this principle, federal government trustees should be authorized to review mortgages and, where modification would yield greater total return than foreclosure, modify the loans. Blind trustee review, moreover, can be achieved …


Improving The Odds Of Government Accountability In The Disaster-Prone Era: Using The 9/11 Fund Factors To Remedy The Problem Of Toxic Katrina Trailers, Olympia Duhart Jan 2009

Improving The Odds Of Government Accountability In The Disaster-Prone Era: Using The 9/11 Fund Factors To Remedy The Problem Of Toxic Katrina Trailers, Olympia Duhart

Faculty Scholarship

This article analyzes the dangers surrounding the toxicity levels in the trailers issued to Katrina survivors by FEMA, and identifies serious medical complications stemming from the temporary homes. Lack of government oversight in the process led to the distribution of formaldehyde-laced trailers that cost the government more than $2 billion and continue to poison residents years after the storm. Furthermore, the failures connected to disaster relief are even more disturbing in this disaster-prone era. More importantly, this paper also proposes the creation of a Toxic Trailer Fund to compensate residents of toxic FEMA trailers. Using the factors implicitly established by …


Can You Hear Me Up There? Giving Voice To Local Communities Imperative For Achieving Sustainability, Patricia E. Salkin Jan 2009

Can You Hear Me Up There? Giving Voice To Local Communities Imperative For Achieving Sustainability, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

Sustainable development is an international challenge that demands attention at all levels of government. The calls to action to achieve sustainability have varied over the last few decades. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s attention was focused on the need for environmental review and growth management strategies. In the 1990s the rhetoric shifted to smart growth and livable communities, and today, the issue has been reframed as advocates view sustainability through the lens of global warming and climate change. Regardless of the nomenclature, however, the end game is the same. While the United States as a whole speaks through …


Sustainability And Land Use Planning: Greening State And Local Land Use Plans And Regulations To Address Climate Change Challenges And Preserve Resources For Future Generations, Patricia E. Salkin Jan 2009

Sustainability And Land Use Planning: Greening State And Local Land Use Plans And Regulations To Address Climate Change Challenges And Preserve Resources For Future Generations, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

Although a coordinated national policy on climate change should be developed, initiatives at the local government level through the land use planning and regulatory control processes have tremendous potential to dramatically contribute to the reduction of green house gas emissions, leading to a reduction in the carbon footprint and ultimately to a more sustainable environment. Part I of this article discusses opportunities for using the comprehensive land use planning process to address sustainability and provides examples of how this is being accomplished across the country. Part II mentions the growing number of state and local climate action plans (and cross-references …


Modernization Of New York's Land Use Laws Continues To Meet Growing Challenges Of Sustainability, Patricia E. Salkin, Jessica A. Bacher Jan 2009

Modernization Of New York's Land Use Laws Continues To Meet Growing Challenges Of Sustainability, Patricia E. Salkin, Jessica A. Bacher

Scholarly Works

There has never been a more challenging time to practice land use planning and zoning law in New York. With goals of sustainability at the forefront of the land use regulatory agenda, this brief account of recent developments in land use law highlights some discernable trends, namely: the modernization and increased flexibility of New York State planning and zoning enabling acts, the inspired local initiatives and lethargic State response to affordable housing issues, and the increasing impact of alternative energy systems on local regulatory schemes.

Part I of this article explores the impacts on community development caused by the many …


A House Divided: The Invisibility Of The Multiracial Family, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Jacob Willig-Onwuachi Jan 2009

A House Divided: The Invisibility Of The Multiracial Family, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Jacob Willig-Onwuachi

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is an invited special projects paper for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. It examines how society and law work together to frame the normative ideal of intimate couples and families as both heterosexual and monoracial. This Article sets out to accomplish three goals. First, it examines the daily social privileges of monoracial, heterosexual couples as a means of revealing the invisibility of interracial marriages and families within our society. Specifically, Part II of this Article uses the work of Professor Peggy McIntosh to identify unacknowledged monoracial, heterosexual-couple privileges and list unearned privileges, both social and legal, …


Reconciling People And Place In Housing And Community Development Policy Essay, Nestor M. Davidson Jan 2009

Reconciling People And Place In Housing And Community Development Policy Essay, Nestor M. Davidson

Faculty Scholarship

In housing and community development theory, scholars have long debated tensions between place-based policies and those that focus on fostering mobility. In practice, this is a false dichotomy and this essay explores ways in which place-based policies change the calculus of mobility, while mobility policies deeply shape both the communities people seek and those they leave behind.