This spring, Shorewood Hills’ board of trustees voted 6-1 against a proposal that would have replaced the Pyare Square Tower, an obsolete and underutilized office building near McDonald’s on University Avenue, with multi-family housing.

The proposed development would have been a six-story, 67-unit apartment complex for low and moderate income renters. The board gave concerns over fire services, the size of the development and possible financial impacts as reasons for their decision.

Last month the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of a village resident, filed a complaint with the department of Housing and Urban Development against Shorewood Hills for discriminatory practices in blocking the project.

The complaint alleges that vetoing the project had a “substantially disproportionate effect on persons of color”. The ACLU points out that, in the Madison area, African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans have a significantly lower income than whites and are “substantially more likely to be renters”.

Furthermore, the ACLU alleges, the village showed discriminatory intent in vetoing the project. They point out that the board had planned some form of multi-family housing on the site. They also allow for a building eight stories tall, much larger than the proposed development. Objections were only raised once low-income apartments were proposed.

Trustees cited worries over fire services as one reason for blocking the project. The village does not own a fire truck large enough to reach residents of a six-story building. There had been a proposal to buy such a truck, but it was vetoed last December, at the same time the Pyare Square project was first proposed.

The ACLU alleges that one trustee opposed the fire truck purchase because he wished to create roadblocks for the apartment complex.

The village fire chief also suggested that an agreement could be made with either Madison or Middleton to provide fire protection for the site. However, the ACLU claims, the board never looked into this.

Another concern cited by trustees was the possible financial implications of the project for the village. However, an independent financial analysis found a negative impact was unlikely. Furthermore, they pointed out low-income housing of the type proposed usually had a positive financial impact on communities.

Individual residents and trustees raised other issues. During village meetings, one trustee complained the project would increase the village’s voting rolls by 20 percent, and that the newcomers might have different values than current residents. Others worried that apartments were not good places to raise children, that local schools would be overwhelmed and the village would have an obligation to provide services.

These types of concerns are not recorded as being raised during earlier discussions of multi-family housing at the Pyare Square site. They only became issues when low income housing was proposed.

Shorewood Hills is a wealthy enclave that is significantly whiter and richer than Madison as a whole. With over 90 percent of housing units costing more than the median for Dane County, there is little diversity in housing opportunities.

Though the village had planned multi-family housing for the Pyare Square site, they balked when a low-income complex was proposed. The reasons officially cited for blocking the project, such as fire services, building size and possible financial impacts were after-the-fact justifications.

While it is up to federal authorities to decide whether or not the village violated the letter of the law, it is fair to say they did not follow its intent. The Fair Housing Act aimed to prevent housing practices resulting in segregation of racial and ethnic groups. Even if Shorewood Hills did not act with race or ethnicity in mind, the effect of their decision is the same.

Madison risks becoming a divided city. There are few places for low-income working families in the downtown, campus or west side areas. The clustering of affordable homes and subsidized housing at the edges of the city has undermined attempts to create integrated neighborhoods and disproportionately forced racial and ethnic minorities into these areas.

Geoff Jara-Almonte ([email protected]) is a fourth-year graduate medical student