City of New Berlin, Racial Discrimination, Wisconsin 2011

The City of New Berlin, Wisconsin, has been accused of racial discrimination in a housing project.

In June 2011, the United States filed a lawsuit against the city of New Berlin, alleging that it blocked a 180-unit affordable housing project that a developer, MSP Real Estate Inc., had proposed for the city center area of New Berlin.

The city’s planning commission initially approved the project, but reversed course and denied it weeks later, after hundreds of residents objected to it. The suit alleged that opposition was based partly on racial stereotypes and fear that the project’s tenants would be African-American.

As part of the settlement, the city agreed to modify changes it made to its zoning and land use requirements following public opposition to allow for future additional affordable housing in the city center.

The settlement requires the city to provide a minimum of $75,000 to establish a Housing Trust Fund, which will finance projects that promote affordable housing, residential integration and equal housing opportunity.

In addition, city officials must develop a Fair Housing Outreach Plan to encourage tenants and developers of affordable housing to come to New Berlin, appoint a fair housing compliance officer, and undergo fair housing training.

It also provides for a $5,000 civil penalty to be paid to the United States.

“It is important that people have a choice about where they live and are not excluded from communities because of their race. This settlement makes clear that we will take action against municipalities that violate the law by blocking affordable housing developments not for legitimate reasons but to exclude people based on race,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division.

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. Fair housing enforcement is a priority of the Civil Rights Division.

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