North, East Lubbock residents file federal complaint alleging new zoning is discriminatory

A group of citizens representing a number of neighborhoods in north and east Lubbock have filed a federal civil rights complaint against the City of Lubbock alleging the city's recently adopted Unified Development Code is "racist" and includes "discriminatory zoning" practices.

The North and East Lubbock Coalition (NELC), through Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Treasury Department and the Department of Justice under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The complaint contends "the City of Lubbock … has willfully failed to provide fair and equal zoning protection to Black and Hispanic citizens living in East and North Lubbock neighborhoods and instead surrounded those neighborhoods with industrial zoning."

A City of Lubbock spokesperson told the Avalanche-Journal the city is currently reviewing the matter. The A-J also reached out to the mayor and members of the City Council but did not immediately hear back.

The complaint targets the Unified Development Code, a complete overhaul of the city's planning and zoning laws adopted in May and set to become effective Oct. 1. The UDC is intended to streamline and simplify Lubbock's zoning and development standards and will replace the existing planning and zoning ordinances, which received their last major overhaul in the 1970s.

More: Unified Development Code approved on first reading with Oct. 1 effective date

The complaint alleges 57% of Lubbock's Black population and 38% of Hispanic residents will live within a mile of an industrial land use under the new zoning maps, which the coalition argues is an effort to renew a 1923 "redlining" ordinance which purposely put heavy industry next to minority neighborhoods. In comparison, only 17% of white residents will live within the same proximity to industrial zoning, the complaint says.

"NELC members have battled against the encroachment of industrial uses into our neighborhoods for many years," Dora Cortez, a spokeswoman for NELC, said in a news conference Wednesday morning. "The Unified Development Code (forces) high-intensity industrial uses into north and east Lubbock neighborhoods. The city subjects residents of color to greater health risks, more pollution, and stunted residential and commercial development."

Title VI prohibits any entity that receives federal funding from engaging in race-based discrimination, explained Adam Pirtle, a Legal Aid attorney representing NELC.

"The City Council decided to take and distribute millions of federal dollars; they do it every year. When they decide to take that money, they make a promise to the federal government and to the American taxpayer that they don't have discriminatory programs, activities or laws on the books," Pirtle said.

"The City Council broke that promise when it passed Lubbock's new zoning code, the Unified Development Code, which has reaffirmed Lubbock's discriminatory zoning map," he continued.

North and east Lubbock residents have long asked the council to address the problems of air pollution from industrial installations near their neighborhoods. In 2018, when the city was developing its comprehensive Plan Lubbock 2040, residents in these neighborhoods told the City Council they experienced headaches, coughing, asthma attacks and nausea as a result of surrounding heavy industry.

Related: Lubbock group awarded EPA grant to improve air quality, emphasis on east side

More recently, during a joint City Council-Planning and Zoning Commission hearing ahead of the UDC's adoption, residents expressed concerns the code doesn't do enough to address the historic disparities. Some suggested the city be even more proactive in easing those burdens by building into the UDC an amortization clause — a statute which would essentially allow an expiration date for grandfathered property uses that don't conform to the new zoning codes.

As part of their recommendation, the Planning and Zoning Commission suggested the council appoint a subcommittee to explore and review potential amortization policy, a move proponents praised. But, according to Legal Aid attorney Michael Bates, that has yet to happen.

During a regular City Council meeting Tuesday, the council set a date for another joint hearing to contemplate amendments to the UDC ahead of its effective date, thought specific amendments have not yet been proposed. The council adopted the code in May with the expectation of needing future amendments.

That hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock residents file federal complaint alleging discriminatory UDC