By Heather Cobun
BridgeTower Media Newswires
BALTIMORE, MD — A lawsuit originally filed by the owner and builder of a townhouse subdivision in Harford County being marketed as a retirement community for Muslims has added new allegations and plaintiffs to the complaint, accusing the government officials of “placating a vocal group of protesters” through continued construction delays.
OT LLC, which owns the subdivision, and Gemcraft Homes Inc., the builder, filed suit in U.S. District Court in September alleging religious discrimination is behind refusals to issue additional building permits, water and sewage permits and use-and-occupancy permits without “burdensome and costly obligations” to the Joppatowne community.
Since the lawsuit was filed, the plaintiffs allege the county has retaliated by accusing Gemcraft CEO and OT managing partner William R. Luther Jr. of defamation and increasing property taxes on the lots where homes have been completed despite declaring no one can live in them.
Del. Richard K. Impallaria, R-Baltimore and Harford and a defendant in the case, has also filed a lawsuit in Harford County Circuit Court seeking a writ of mandamus requiring the county to withdraw permits authorizing construction on a community center on the property.
But the plaintiffs, in their amended complaint, counter the delegate’s lawsuit is “retaliatory and malicious use of process that represents one more step in (Impallaria’s) ongoing activities, under the guise of his authority as a state legislator, to interfere in a county governmental function for obviously discriminatory reasons.”
Impallaria said Tuesday he and community members who joined his lawsuit are seeking enforcement of a provision in a 2004 agreement about the property prohibiting changing the number of houses without a court order and the agreement of all parties.
The proposed community center would be on four consolidated lots, decreasing the number of homes.
“At the very beginning, all laws should be followed,” Impallaria said. “Our lawsuit is not saying they shouldn’t have a community center and our lawsuit is not against the Muslim community.”
But the plaintiffs cite public statements made by Impallaria “that further reveal his discriminatory motivations,” including remarks at a community meeting last month warning that the Ahmadiyya Muslims were unlikely to sell to Muslims of another sect which “creates a ghetto mentality, bad lifestyle, hatred between different factions.”
The mandamus lawsuit was filed two weeks later, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs are joined in the amended complaint by Shades and Springs Inc., a Montgomery County-based nonprofit working with the developers to assist in establishing a residential retirement community for members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith, and Ajaz A. Khan, an Iowa man who is in the process of purchasing one of the homes.
S&S entered an option agreement with OT in April, conditioned on OT obtaining approval from the county for construction of the community center. But it has been “unable to enjoy the property interest and rights that it paid to acquire... for the sole reason that Defendants have chosen to discriminate against Muslims,” the lawsuit states.
Khan, a Pakistani native who moved to the U.S. from the United Kingdom with his family in 1991, is a software architect and wanted to purchase a home in the community to retire, according to the complaint.
He is one of 21 designees who have entered contracts with Gemcraft for the purchase of a lot and construction of a townhouse and has been “in indefinite limbo” while waiting to close on his new home.
The new complaint alleges racial discrimination, conspiracy to interfere with civil rights, neglect to prevent conspiracy, tortious interference with contractual and prospective business relations, and violations of the First Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and the Maryland Declaration of Rights.
The plaintiffs also allege violations of the Fair Housing Act for discriminating against prospective home purchasers on the basis of religion and interfering with the owners’ rights.
Several defendants have accused the subdivision of violations of the Fair Housing Act itself but the plaintiffs argue because S&S is a religious organization or at minimum acting in conjunction with a religious organization, it is exempt from liability.
The community has been marketed to members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith aged 55 and older but the plaintiffs maintain the homes will be available to any buyers that satisfy the age requirement regardless of their religion.
The plaintiffs also argue the county defendants admitted in filings they were motivated by public accusations of FHA violations, which lead to the development being treated differently and subject to increased scrutiny, citing communications about the county “doing its ‘due diligence.’”
“That the County Defendants did not hyper-scrutinize the project until after they became concerned (erroneously) that the FHA had been violated because the houses were being sold to members of the Islamic faith further confirms their discriminatory motive,” the complaint alleges.
The county has also allegedly told OT and Gemcraft that surety bonds previously in place “are no more” and new bonds are required to secure development work they county says must be completed but have produced no evidence that the bonding company cancelled the bonds.
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