The Ohio House, LLC v. City of Costa Mesa, 135 F.4th 645 (2024)

Citation: The Ohio House, LLC v. City of Costa Mesa, 135 F.4th 645 (2024)
Parent Document: The Ohio House, LLC v. City of Costa Mesa, 135 F.4th 645 (2024)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2024-12-04
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10287865/the-ohio-house-llc-v-city-of-c... ↗

Full Text

1,957 chars

its “zoning practices . . . discriminate against disabled
individuals . . . [and] contribute to ‘mak[ing] unavailable or
deny[ing]’ housing to those persons.” Pac. Shores Props.,
LLC, 730 F.3d at 1157 (second and third alterations in
original) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(1)); see also Socal
Recovery, 56 F.4th at 814 (“[L]ocal governments are
prohibited from discriminating on the basis of disability
through zoning and land use practices.”). The FEHA largely
mirrors its federal counterpart. See Cal. Gov’t Code
§ 12927(c)(1) (tracking the FHA’s definition of
“discrimination”); id. § 12955(k) (recognizing overlapping
protected classes as the FHA); id. § 12955.6 (guaranteeing
no “fewer rights or remedies than the [FHA]”). The FEHA
prohibits discrimination based on disability “through public
or private land use practices, decisions, and authorizations.”
Id. § 12955(l). We analyze FHA and FEHA claims under the
same standard. Socal Recovery, 56 F.4th at 811; see also
Pac. Shores Props., 730 F.3d at 1156 n.14.
    “[P]ersons recovering from drug and/or alcohol
addiction are disabled under the FHA and [are] therefore
protected from housing discrimination.” Pac. Shores Props.,
730 F.3d at 1156–57. Group homes operated for persons
recovering from addiction, often referred to as sober-living
homes, are covered “dwellings.” Id. Therefore, both federal
and California law “prohibit[] discriminatory actions that
adversely affect the availability of such . . . homes.” Id.
Sober-living-home operators are “aggrieved” by unlawful
zoning practices that prevent them from carrying out normal
business operations, and they may sue to “invalidate any
state or local law that ‘purports to require or permit’ an
action that would be a discriminatory housing practice”
without having to prove the individual disability status of
their residents. Socal Recovery, 56 F.4th at 814; see also Cal.
          THE OHIO HOUSE, LLC V. CITY OF COSTA MESA           17

Other Sections in This Document (107)

Full Text