A federal judge last week ruled that mandating brick use in home construction in a Texas city doesn’t discriminate against minorities. This ruling supports Columbia's adoption in 2006 of an ordinance requiring significant amounts of brick to be used on new homes.
Columbia has been followed by Ellisville, Town & Country, and several Metro East communities that have subsequently adopted ordinances requiring new home construction to have certain percentages of brick or stone masonry facades. The Brick Industry Association, a national trade organization, lists numerous such ordinances across the country on its website.
Researchers from the University of Michigan studied four Chicago suburban communities to identify the impacts that the adoption of a masonry ordinance had on housing price and the fiscal health of each community. Their comparison of two communities with masonry ordinances (Orland Park and Tinley Park) with two otherwise similar communities without such ordinances, found that adoption of a masonry ordinance not only enhanced the durability and aesthetic value of local properties but it also increased property values, tax base, and overall fiscal health of each community. In addition, the research indicates that the adoption of a masonry ordinance supports population growth and does not significantly impact affordability of housing or rental costs.
The National Association of Home Builders, the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin sued the City of Kyle, an Austin suburb, over a municipal brick ordinance that they say prices minorities out of the single-family housing market. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel issued the ruling on Monday, saying he could find no discriminatory effect against minorities.
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