Ban on Home for Retarded Voided
A Chicago suburb agreed Tuesday to allow construction of a group home for the retarded in a federal court settlement that may ease efforts to build housing for the handicapped across the nation.
Chicago Heights agreed also to pay $45,000 in damages and report for five years all actions affecting housing for the handicapped.
“We hope other communities will get the message that the handicapped have rights under the Fair Housing Act,” said James P. Turner, acting head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
Under the consent decree approved by U.S. District Judge William T. Hart, Chicago Heights agreed to issue a zoning permit before week’s end to Residential Facilities Management Services Inc. of Galesburg, Ill. The permit will allow construction of a group home for 15 retarded adults.
The agreement settles lawsuits filed June 20 by the Justice Department and the next day by the corporation charging that the City Council violated the Fair Housing Act when it voted May 1 to turn down a request for the zoning permit. The lawsuits were the first brought by the government under the fair housing amendment enacted last year to protect the handicapped.
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