The Village of Tinley Park will pay more than $400,000
A Chicago suburb has agreed to resolve a lawsuit alleging it violated the Fair Housing Act when it refused to approve a low-income housing development in response to race-based community opposition, according to the Justice Department.
The DOJ sued the Village of Tinley Park in November 2017 before US District Court in Chicago. It claimed that Tinley Park refused to approve the project in spite of the finding by its planning department that the development was in “precise conformance” with the applicable building requirements. The DOJ said that by its refusal, Tinley Park discriminated against the prospective tenants of the proposed development.
The suburb’s zoning ordinances required its plan commission to approve the project and allow construction to begin. However, the suit alleges that Tinley Park trustees requested that the commission table consideration of the project following race-based community opposition. The project was stalled indefinitely.
Tinley Park has agreed to pay monetary damages totaling $360,000 to its former planning director, who was placed on leave because of her support for the project. Additionally, the suburb agreed to pay a $50,000 civil penalty to the US.
The settlement also includes commitments by Tinley Park to take actions to guard against further housing discrimination, such as training elected officials and individuals involved in the planning process, developing a fair housing policy, and hiring a fair housing compliance officer.
