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Highway 61 correspondence and documents, 1968-1974

1972-01-22 James I. Meyerson to The Iowa State Highway Commission Page 2

The Iowa State Highway Commission
Page 2

have built new homes.

Adequate relocation housing is not available for those persons who would be displaced by the proposed action. At this time, the only housing available in the City of Fort Madison is in the $25,000.00 bracket, a bracket which is far out of the reach of most of the home-owners in the corridor area. Contrary to published reports, the majority of the dwelling units that will be taken as a consequence of the proposed action will not "satisfactorily
 be replaced by the proposed "Low-Rent" Housing project.

It is apparent that the location of the proposed highway corridor is being pressed by persons with no vested interest in the area. The sole design of the proposed corridor area is to acquire land at the cheapest price possible and at the sole expense of the minority persons living therein.

In Norwalk Core v. Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, 395 F. .2d 920, 931 (2nd Cir. 1968), a Federal Court of Appeals, in addressing itself to the proposed governmental action and the consequent effect of minority dislocation, stated: 

"...[T]he fact that the discrimination is not inherent in the administration of the program, but is...accidental to the plan ' surely does not excuse the planners ' ...Equal protection of the laws means more than merely the absence of governmental action designed to discriminate; as Judge J. Skelly Wright has said, ' we now firmly recognize that the arbitrary quality of the thoughtlessness can be as disastrous and unfair to the private rights and public interest as the perversity of a wilful scheme.' Hobson v. Hansen, 269 F. Supp. 401, 497 (D.D.C. 1967)"

The Supreme Court made it clear in Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715, 81 S. Ct. 856, 6 L.Ed. 2d 45 (1961), at page 725, that:

"It is of no consolation to an individual denied the equal protection of the laws that it was done in good faith."

In light of the foregoing, the National Association for the

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The Iowa State Highway Commission Page 2 have built new homes. Adequate relocation housing is not available for those persons who would be displaced by the proposed action. At this time, the only housing available in the City of Fort Madison is in the $25,000.00 bracket, a bracket which is far out of the reach of most of the home-owners in the corridor area. Contrary to published reports, the majority of the dwelling units that will be taken as a consequence of the proposed action will not "satisfactorily be replaced by the proposed "Low-Rent" Housing project. It is apparent that the location of the proposed highway corridor is being pressed by persons with no vested interest in the area. The sole design of the proposed corridor area is to acquire land at the cheapest price possible and at the sole expense of the minority persons living therein. In Norwalk Core v. Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, 395 F. .2d 920, 931 (2nd Cir. 1968), a Federal Court of Appeals, in addressing itself to the proposed governmental action and the consequent effect of minority dislocation, stated: "...[T]he fact that the discrimination is not inherent in the administration of the program, but is...accidental to the plan ' surely does not excuse the planners ' ...Equal protection of the laws means more than merely the absence of governmental action designed to discriminate; as Judge J. Skelly Wright has said, ' we now firmly recognize that the arbitrary quality of the thoughtlessness can be as disastrous and unfair to the private rights and public interest as the perversity of a wilful scheme.' Hobson v. Hansen, 269 F. Supp. 401, 497 (D.D.C. 1967)" The Supreme Court made it clear in Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715, 81 S. Ct. 856, 6 L.Ed. 2d 45 (1961), at page 725, that: "It is of no consolation to an individual denied the equal protection of the laws that it was done in good faith." In light of the foregoing, the National Association for the