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Study to look at housing barriers

The project will focus on issues such as housing availability and planning and zoning policies in Pinellas County, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Largo.

By SHANNON TAN
Published September 13, 2005

A Miami fair housing group will study the types of barriers preventing people from livin g where they choose - and finding housing that they can afford - in Pinellas County.

Pinellas County, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Largo signed a contract Monday with the Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence, or HOPE Inc., for the $30,000 study. Each community will foot $7,500 for its portion of the bill.

"We're looking at things that would keep people from being able to obtain housing of their choice for any reason, including discrimination," said Leon Russell, Pinellas County's human rights officer.

The study, which will be completed by Nov. 15, will look at such issues as the availability of housing in each municipality, planning and zoning policies, lot size restrictions and density, Russell said.

The group will also study a particularly hot-button issue in Pinellas County: how the displacement of mobile home residents from parks sold to developers affects the availability of housing.

Bill Thompson, president and chief executive officer of HOPE, said the group will examine the number of discrimination complaints and lawsuits related to fair housing. It will also mail surveys to residents who rent or own homes in Pinellas County.

"Pinellas County, in my opinion, has a very good fair housing program," Thompson said. "However, discrimination still exists."

Some questions the study will examine include: Is neighborhood revitalization contributing to the segregation of communities? Do existing building codes accommodate people with disabilities? Does the public transportation system allow residents without cars to get to work?

When the study is completed, the organization will work with each municipality to develop an action plan to remove impediments to fair housing, such as diversifying existing housing options.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development requires that such studies be done periodically, Russell said.

The last study, conducted in 1996, found that first-time buyers in Pinellas had difficulty qualifying for mortgages and that the supply of affordable rental housing was shrinking. Also, low-income housing was concentrated in older, deteriorating and minority neighborhoods.

Three years ago, the Pinellas County Office of Human Rights hired 31 testers to visit 200 rental properties in the county. The testers found that people of color were treated differently, with black testers being shown different apartments and quoted different prices than whites.

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing because of race, national origin, religion, gender, familial status or disability.

Largo showed the most bias toward nonwhite applicants, the study found.

--Shannon Tan can be reached at shtan@sptimes.com or 445-4174.

[Last modified September 13, 2005, 01:45:22]