A group known as Central California Legal Services (CCLS) is suing the City of Clovis over a lack of affordable housing — a problem it says was caused by zoning failures that violate California’s Housing Element Law.
CCLS alleges the failure to comply with state housing law constitutes discrimination against low-income individuals and people of color.
“Clovis didn’t get to be 70 percent white by accident,” Patience Milrod, executive director of CCLS, told the Fresno Bee. “In many ways because race and income are so linked, when Clovis says ‘hey, we’re going to zone in a way that only rich people can afford to live here,’ they are zoning in a way that only white people can live here. They cannot claim ignorance of that linkage.”
A growing number of cities are facing lawsuits over zoning and alleged NIMBYism in the wake of a statewide affordable housing crisis.
Read more about the Clovis lawsuit at the Fresno Bee.