City of Kyle, Texas Sued
According to the Austinist,
A lawsuit against the City of Kyle for violation of the federal Fair Housing Act started yesterday. The suit was filed by the national and Austin branches of the NAACP, the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and the National Association of Home Builders. It alleges that Kyle has increased the cost of local housing by instituting revised zoning ordinances that increase the minimum living area of a home by 20 percent, increase minimum lot size by almost 14 percent, require that all buildings be covered in brick, stone or other approved masonry product, increase set-back requirements and require minimum 480 square foot garages.
The NAACP maintains that the City is discriminating by encouraging this housing price increase, even if not directly or purposely, because the bottom line is that the people most affected are minorities. Other cities surrounding Austin have filed an amicus brief to show support for the City of Kyle.
- For those of you in Austin, what the heck do you think about this? What could this lead to (positive or negative)?
- For non-Austinites, have you seen this in your city before? If not, what do you think the end result would be in your area if the NAACP jumped into a situation like this?
February 14th, 2008 at 3:20 am
The figure 480 sq. foot jumped out at me… because that’s the area of the flat (apartment) I first lived in.
In the UK we have a three-tier system that, once every ten years:
- Central governments sets targets for the number of people each county must additionally house (a county in the UK is typically about 1.5million people)
- Each county comes up with a plan that says where in the county the housing will be built.
- Each Local (town) council says where in the town they would prefer to have these. Some of those areas can be large housing, others can be set as high-density.
Any application from a self-builder or developer is assessed “against the local plan”, with the presumption that if it’s in an area zoned for the appropriate housing, the answer will almost certainly be yes.
If you are turned down, then you can appeal to the national government - and a good ground for appeal is that the local plan didn’t include as many housing units as it was meant to!
Net result - some people I know applied to build a 3-storey apartment block - they were turned down and asked to come back with revised plans showing it as 5 stories, so more people could be housed
There are some odd exceptions like conservation areas (for instance, our church is just over 1100 years old, and the area around it is protected to preserve it.)
February 14th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
My first thought is “Here we go again”, another NAACP witch hunt. However, it is interesting that the home builders are involved, and some of those restrictions (especially the garage) seem way out of line.
I am anxious to see how this plays out, so keep those of us not fortunate enough to live in Texaaaaaas up to date.
Enjoy your blog!
February 14th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Thanks Charles for the compliments.
I had the same reaction, initially, but after further reflection believe that the City is not out of line. (1) NAACP admits that the “discrimination” may not be intentional, so their case is already bunk (no motive, no discrimination, no case). (2) I grew up near Kyle and it was a quaint town which has become extremely densely populated with tons of tract houses on tiny lots which is NOT conducive to a small town atmosphere, nor is it conducive to the typically larger lots found in Texas. It seems to me that Kyle is simply trying to avoid becoming overcrowded with tiny houses stacked on top of each other. Having lived there, the people that are native to Kyle are amazingly kind, generous people and I find it difficult to believe that they would systematically discriminate or even have thoughts like “increasing lot sizes will cut out riff raff.”
That said, I still believe it should at least be looked at, because many cities across the nation find ways to cut out certain demographics and even if it is for “property value” sake or for “aesthetics,” it should still be in check but I think it should be closely examined and discussed by the LOCAL population rather than a court or a governmental agency.
Readers, would you agree or disagree with my statements?
February 15th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I was under the impression that cities had the right to set their own building requirements. They are not restricting whether black people, white people or purple people can live there.
They are saying poor people can’t. I guess that’s the beauty of America for some people.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Chris, I think you’re right- this is a much more simple situation than we’re all making it out to be.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I live in Kyle. Kyle is home to MANY minorities. Look it up.
Kyle is VERY affordable. That is WHY it is growing so fast, because people cannot afford to live in Austin and San Antonio. Lot prices in some parts of Austin and San Antonio cost more than houses in Kyle. BRAND NEW homes in Kyle starting in the low 80K’s. Homes are a good 50% cheaper than SAT & AUS. We have affordable tax credit apartments available too.
Look, if you want a trashy neighborhood, then don’t require a garage. There is one house in my neighborhood that doesn’t have a garage, so they use their yard to store their crap. UGLY…
Why don’t they pick on Pflugerville or Cedar Park… OH that’s right, because those towns have more money to fight. Why? Because they have less minorities.
NAACP wants to lower the VALUE of homes OWNED BY MINORITIES by allowing low standards. The minorities already own these homes because they are affordable, and if you lower standards, those homes will LOSE value. Minorities will lose.
NAACP, GET OUT OF MY TOWN!!!
February 20th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I live in Kyle and am not interested in: increased traffic and toll roads!!
Please, go visit Round Rock any time of day or night and if that what you want then why not push for zoning everything for multi-family?
February 20th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Kirt, thank you for adding your thoughts- I hope people like you who are *in* the city are heard in all this mess.
Frank, traffic levels sure do change the landscape of a small town, don’t they?
March 8th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
WOW!!! Is it so wrong to want to live in a town that gives you some space? If you want a small, cheap lot… a double wide might do you better. Some folks move away from the big city for a reason (insert yours here) me I like being able to pee without my neighbor watching. Keep up the good fight Kyle!!! On another note, and this is going to sound bad… sorry… If I can’t find an affordable home what agency is going to look out for me? Minorities are not the only ones with low income! Was that racist, or classist???