The Oyster Bay Town Board set a public hearing date for next month to amend the town code after it settled two housing discriminationlawsuitsin April brought by the state and federal governments.

The board unanimously approved to set a hearing date for Tuesday, June 16, to amend the wording of the RNG Next Generation Residence District, which the town said it would do as part of its settlement agreement.

“The board finds that it is in the best interest of the Town of Oyster Bay and its residents to amend the purpose of the RNG Next Generation Residence District to remove the stated preference for residents and children of residents of the Town of Oyster Bay,” town documents from the meeting on Tuesday, May 5, say.

The federal government filed suit against the town in 2014, alleging that the town’s Oyster Bay Next Generation and Oyster Bay Golden Age Housing programs violated the Fair Housing Act as they developed below-market-rate housing for first-time homeowners and senior citizens and discriminated against African-Americans, since the programs gave preference to town residents, who were predominantly white.

The state Division of Human Rights sued the town in 2015, saying the Fair Housing Act prevented the town from using “discriminatory practices” that restrict housing based on race, religion, and other criteria.

The settlement did not include any financial element, but it did require all elected town officials to select town employees to attend annual Fair Housing Education and Training sessions for three years, according to town documents.

It also says that the town denied the allegations mentioned in the lawsuits, according to town documents.

The town board made no additional comment about the upcoming hearing.

The board also celebrated Jewish American Heritage Month at Tuesday’s meeting, where several Israeli flags were displayed inside town hall, as it honored several members of the town’s Jewish community. The town also proclaimed May as Jewish American Heritage Month within the town and the town hall will be lit blue throughout the month.

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Source: LI Press