Affordable housing developer sues town for discrimination

Medford-based Concern for Independent Living, a nonprofit that provides affordable housing, has sued the Town of Southampton for scuttling its plan to build a 50-unit apartment project called Liberty Gardens.

The nonprofit also known as Concern Housing claimed in the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, that the Southampton Town Board’s disapproval of the project violated the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the New York Human Rights Law.

In 2017, the town invited Concern to propose an affordable and supportive housing development on 5 acres of vacant land behind the Southampton Full Gospel Church.The nonprofit then proposed Liberty Gardens, with 25 affordable and workforce housing units, and another 25 supportive housing units for veterans.

However, while town officials initially supported the plan and the town board accepted the project’s final environmental impact statement in 2023, the lawsuit claims that the town later denied the requiring rezoning of the property in June 2024, issuing “a SEQRA Findings Statement contradicting the FEIS and concluding that the project could not move forward because of its environmental impact,” according to court documents.

Concern’s lawsuit claimsthe town board’s 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.’”

Southampton Town officials have yet to respond to a request for comment.

“It is every community’s responsibility to support veterans who served our countryespecially those with disabilitiesbecause they are disproportionately harmed by the housing crisis,” Ralph Fasano, executive director of Concern Housing, said in an organization statement. “Sadly, the Town Board gave in to vitriolic and very loud community pressure from those in the high-end Southampton resort community who stigmatized our homeless veterans. Concern is committed to fighting for safe, supportive, and affordable housing for those in our community who have already sacrificed so much for our country.”

Concern says it had already invested more than $2.5 million in “pre-development activities at the site.” In addition, the developer had secured more than $30 million in funding for the Liberty Gardens project from Suffolk County, New York State Housing and Community Renewal, Federal Home Loan Bank, and the New York State Office of Mental Health, which can be used only at the church parcel.

Concern had initially proposed monthly rental rates for Liberty Gardens ranging from $550 to $1,371, which it says is well below the median rent levels for the town. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Southampton is $2,586.

With its lawsuit, Concern is seeking an injunction ordering the town board to approve Liberty Gardens, as well as an award of compensatory and punitive damages.

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