ELR Citation: ELR 20497
No(s). 72-3804 (5th Cir. Apr 12, 1974)

The court overrules a lower court and holds that a city's denial of water and sewer hookup permits to a planned housing project for minority farmworkers which is to be located outside the city limits constitutes discrimination. The city's attempt to justify denial on the basis of zoning regulations and annexation policy is discredited by past exceptions which have been made for white developments. Although a city may have no obligation in the first instance to provide such services to persons outside its geographical limits, once it has done so, it must continue to do so in a racially nondiscriminatory manner. The court also rules irrelevant evidence that the present municipal sewer system is inadequate because state policy allows low-income housing to be exempt from interim sewer bans.

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Robert H. Graddy
Florida Rural Legal Services
110 N.W. 5th Avenue
Delray Beach, FL 33444

Richard Bellman
Suburban Action Institute
150 White Plains Road
Tarrytown, NY 10591

Counsel for Defendants
Robert D. Chapin City Attorney
1045 east Atlantic Avenue
Delray Beach, FL 33444

Kenneth F. Hoffman Asst. Attorney General
Department of Legal Affairs
Capitol Building
Tallahassee, FL 32307

John C. Randolph
1115 Harvey Building
West Palm Beach, FL 33401