ACLU files complaint against Shorewood Hills

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), alleging Shorewood Hills discriminated against minorities.  Shorewood Hills is a suburb of Madison with an African-American population of only 1.4 percent, compared to 5.8 for Madison.

In some ways, this case is very similar to what has been happening in New Berlin.

The Village Board rejected a developer's request for permission to build 69 apartments, saying it lacked time to evaluate the impact the project would have on the mostly owner-occupied lakeside enclave.

One thing that I often hear from opponents are the imagined impact of Section 42 (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit) properties on property values and taxes. Apparently the Village was concerned about this as well, so concerned that they hired a consultant.

Before the proposal was rejected, village officials hired the Vierbicher consulting firm to study the impact.


The study, dated May 5, predicted the village would suffer no serious financial impact from the proposed Section 42 housing....

The consultants said national studies indicated that Section 42 units almost always have a positive effect on surrounding property values. Numbers of police, fire and EMS calls would be no higher than the village's current rate per housing unit, the consultants said.