The Department of Justice release, dated August 1, 2013, may be an indication of what Oakland Township may be facing in the future. Certainly not all the facts on either the St. Peters, MO situation or our own are known, but what is known it that the Government is taking action to “enforce civil rights laws that require State and Municipalities to end discrimination against and unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities” caused by restrictive Zoning Ordinances.
Here is the the DOJ release:
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/August/13-crt-876.html
Please note the city of St. Peters, MO was fined $80,000.
Richard Michalski
The $80k fine sounds small but it was for a violation regarding a four person group home. That is $20k per person. Violating the rights of the potential residents of Blossom Ridge and you get ($20,000 x 1.25 residents per unit x 238 units) = $5,950,000.00.