Kyle housing rules stand, appeals court rules
A federal appeals court has allowed City of Kyle zoning and subdivision rules to stand, ruling that a civil rights group and two homebuilding associations did not have standing to sue the city.The state and local branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had argued that the rules, passed in 2003 to mandate larger home and lot sizes and all-masonry exteriors, would price many black and Hispanic buyers out of the Kyle market.

Kyle housing rules stand, appeals court rules

By Chuck Lindell | Friday, November 12, 2010, 09:25 AM

A federal appeals court has allowed City of Kyle zoning and subdivision rules to stand, ruling that a civil rights group and two homebuilding associations did not have standing to sue the city.

The state and local branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had argued that the rules, passed in 2003 to mandate larger home and lot sizes and all-masonry exteriors, would price many black and Hispanic buyers out of the Kyle market.

Kyle officials said the new standards were designed to slow growth.

In 2009, U.S. Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that the groups, including the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and the National Association of Home Builders, did not prove the new building standards were discriminatory.

The groups appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled Thursday night that the groups provided no evidence that one of their members was unable to buy a Kyle home because of the rules.

“Instead, plaintiffs have pointed only to evidence suggesting, in the abstract, that some minority members may be less able to afford such residences due to the revised ordinances,” the court ruled.

The groups did not have to pay Kyle’s attorney fees, however, because their lawsuit was not frivolous, the court ruled.
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