Zoning
Below are various resources related to zoning which impact fair housing choice.
FHCCI Resources:
- FHCCI Fact Sheet 14 – Ensuring Fair and Affordable Housing Through Zoning
- FHCCI Fact Sheet 11 – Visitability: Ensuring Homes are Accessible for People with Disabilities
Government Guidance & Resources:
- HUD and DOJ Joint Statement on State and Local Land Use Laws and Practices and the Application of the Fair Housing Act, November 10, 2016 (Rescinded September 16, 2025)
- Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Enforcement of Local Nuisance and Crime-Free Housing Ordinances Against Victims of Domestic Violence, Other Crime Victims, and Others Who Require Police or Emergency Services, HUD, September 13, 2016
- Zoning and Group Homes: Joint Statement of the DOJ and HUD on Group Homes, Local Land Use and the Fair Housing Act, August 18, 1999
Other Guidance:
- Grounded Solutions Network Inclusionary Zoning Page
- Inclusionary Zoning Frequently Asked Questions by Grounded Solutions Network
- Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., U.S. Supreme Court, 1977
- Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, U.S. Supreme Court, 2015
- Reflections on Moving Toward Integration and Modern Exclusionary-Zoning Cases Under the Fair Housing Act, Robert G. Schwemm, 2020.
- How Local Governments Use Nuisance Ordinances to Maintain Segregation, Shriver Center, April 2018.
- How Local Nuisance Ordinances and Crime Free Leases Undermine Communities, Sandra Park, October 2016.
- Addressing Community Opposition to Affordable Housing: A Fair Housing Toolkit, Sara Pratt and Michael Allen, 2004.
- Why Not in Our Backyard?, Michael Allen, Planning Commissioners Journal, Winter 2002
- Using Civil Rights Law to Advance Affordable Housing, The NIMBY Report, National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2002
- Getting to YIMBY: Lessons in Yes in My Backyard, The NIMBY Report, National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2003
- Indiana HB 558 (2017): Makes it unlawful for Indiana cities to pass inclusionary zoning policies targeting affordable housing.
This video summarizes the zoning case, Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1977. The case established the building blocks for years to come on the factors to be used to decide whether zoning decisions were racially motivated or had a racial impact.
