Now The Vets Have Sued Oakland Township Claiming Its Using Zoning Laws to keep Vets And Other Disabled Residents From Moving In

A developer and a group of Disabled Combat Veterans have sued the super posh Detroit suburb of Oakland Township. The disabled combat veterans claim that:

Oakland Township engages in housing discrimination against the disabled, the elderly, and moderate- and lower-income persons.

Former Supervisor Joan Buser claims to HUD that her former employer’s zoning and land-use rules violate the Fair Housing Act.

Local disabled combat veterans have also been fighting the township since 2011. In addition, developer Dominic Moceri has been fighting the township. He has sought permission to build a multi-family housing project for elderly and disabled veterans on a 42-acre site.

Buser and paraplegic Marine Corps veteran Mike Harris became two of the project’s most enthusiastic supporters. Harris heads the 500 member Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Michigan chapter.  Members of PVA have also served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Harris told Brian Dickerson of the Detroit Free Press:

Finding suitable housing is the No. 1 challenge confronting disabled veterans, and that Moceri’s development would address a critical shortage.

Oakland Township Board Thumbs Their Noses At Veterans

All five of the Township’s Board of Trustees also actively campaigned against the project. They all won re-election in 2012. The board members won on their opposition to the assisted-living development. The development is at the center of the paralyzed veterans’ lawsuit.

Current Supervisor Terry Gonser told Dickerson:

The township has no intention of barring disabled American veterans or the elderly from living here. Any existing housing is open to whoever wants to move in.

The typical Oakland Township home is a sprawling single-family home. They also sit on lots of 2 acres or more. In addition, homes also tend to have 10,000 square feet. Single Family homes also make up more than a quarter of the township’s detached single-family homes. Homes were valued at more than half a million dollars in the 2010 census.

Oakland Township also consists of 23,000 acres of vast vacant land. In addition, the township refuses to zone for multi-family housing.

If you are also outraged about this, email Oakland Township Supervisor Terry Gonser at tgonser@oaklandtownship.org

You can also email the other four board members. The arrogant suburbanites who have fought to keep American heroes out of Oakland Township.

Mike Baily at mbailey@oaklandtownship.org

Robin Buxar at rbuxar@oaklandtownship.org

Maureen Thalmann at mthalmann@oaklandtownship.org

John Giannangeli at jgiannangeli@oaklandtownship.org