Suit says buildings violate disability laws
The Justice Department has sued Spokane developer Lanzce Douglass and architects and engineers he hired to build five large apartment complexes in Spokane County, alleging the rental properties violated federal handicap-accessible laws.
Properties listed in the suit, filed Tuesday, are Rock Creek Apartment Complex, at 926 and 930 E. Sitka Ave., 6911 N. Nevada and 911 E. Beacon; Prairie Hills Apartments, 1718 E. Lincoln Road; Granite Court Apartments, 15408 E. Fourth; Hilby Station Apartments, 5317 S. Palouse Highway; and Pineridge Apartments, 8618 N. Mayfair.
“Steps, narrow doors and other accessibility barriers exclude persons with physical disabilities, just as surely as a sign saying persons with disabilities need not apply,” said Rena Comisac, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The suit asks a federal judge to issue an order prohibiting future discrimination by the defendants and requiring them to modify the complexes to bring them into compliance with the federal Fair Housing Act.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Lonnie Suko.
The suit also seeks monetary damages to compensate victims and pay a civil penalty.
Besides Douglass, defendants named in the suit are architects Donald E. Neraas, Independent Home Designs Inc., and Ralph W. Hoover and engineers J.R. Bonnett Engineering Inc. and Gary S. Nelson. They are accused of designing one or more portions of the complexes without including required handicap-accessibility features.
Douglass did not return a telephone call to his office seeking comment Wednesday. The other defendants who could be reached chose not to comment.
The Justice Department brought a similar suit in 2002 against Spokane developer Richard Naccarato, his company, Cedar Builders, and architect Glen Cloninger.
That suit, also alleging failure to comply with handicap-accessibility provisions of the Fair Housing Act, ended in 2005 when the Justice Department announced a $1.5 million settlement.
As part of the settlement, Cedar Builders agreed to pay for $1 million worth of retrofits to 66 ground-floor units at 10 apartment complexes in Spokane. Investigators determined design and construction flaws at those apartments posed access problems for handicapped people.