Nonprofit Sues to Overturn Southampton Town Housing Plan Denial

The Town of Southampton discriminated against veterans when it denied a proposal to build 50 units of affordable housing for former military service members and others, a nonprofit claimed in a new federal lawsuit.

Medford-based Concern for Independent Living, Inc. filed the lawsuit in Central Islip federal court alleging that members of the town board violated the Fair Housing Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, New York State Human Rights Law and the state’s Environmental Quality Review Act when it blocked construction of Liberty Gardens in Tuckahoe.

“Defendants’ actual reasons for blocking Liberty Gardens arise out of their discriminatory views toward people with mental health disabilities and resistance to lower-cost housing for such residents in a ‘high-end resort community,’” attorneys with the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Relman Colfax PLLC, who represent the plaintiffs, alleged in court documents.

The dispute comes as officials on the East End  are grappling with how to address the affordable housing crisis that is forcing longtime residents out of their homes. The nonprofit acquired grant funding to build the workforce housing and affordable housing project, first proposing the development in 2017 on an undeveloped parcel behind the Southampton Full Gospel Church.

The nonprofit needed the town to approve a change in the zoning to allow higher-density housing be built. The project advanced, but after new members of the town board were elected last year, a majority of the panel voted against the zoning change. The lawsuit seeks to overturn that decision and award unspecified financial compensation.

A town attorney was unavailable to comment.