Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 27, 1993                   TAG: 9310270164
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                LENGTH: Medium

COURT RULES FAIR HOUSING ACT APPLIES TO FACILITIES, TOO

A federal appeals court here has ruled that a housing development inhabited mostly by the elderly violated the Fair Housing Act by declaring its pool area off-limits to children under 5.

"Wonderful. That's great," said Elizabeth LaBarbera, the mother of two young children who filed a complaint about the pool rules. "I feel that, no matter what age you are, if you own a home in a community where you have to pay a maintenance fee to maintain the amenities, then you should have the right to use the amenities."

No one stopped LaBarbera and her husband, Joseph, from moving into the development in 1989, though she was 19 years old and pregnant. The development, in Margate, Fla., has never prevented young families from buying homes.

But the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal for most developments to discriminate against families with children, applies to more than housing. The law also prohibits discrimination against families with children "in the provision of services or facilities" in connection with housing.

The pool was one of the reasons the LaBarberas bought a home in the 305-home development inhabited mostly by elderly people.

But the Labarberas discovered that the community pool is off-limits to anyone under 5 years old. Children between 5 and 16 can use the pool only between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

On the advice of the Broward County (Fla.) Human Relations Division, the LaBarberas and a family of renters filed a complaint with HUD. A HUD administrative law judge ruled in 1992 that the rules are discriminatory. HUD later awarded the LaBarberas $4,000 and the family of renter Gerald Ross $3,500.

On Monday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, without comment, affirmed the HUD decision.

Ephraim Collins, a Margate lawyer who represented two homeowners' groups who sought to keep the pool rules in place, said he would consult his clients before deciding whether to pursue the case further.

Albert Greenberg, a vice president of one of the groups, said he was unsure whether homeowners could change the rules. The pool still belongs to the original developers, he said; the homeowners have leased it until the year 2019.

Andrew Menditto, a president of the other homeowners' group, had no comment.

Gloria Battle, director of the Broward County Human Relations Division, applauded the decision, saying it upholds the clear meaning of the Fair Housing Act.

"It does not say, the way the law was written, that you can just let people in and then deny them the right to use the services and facilities," Battle said.