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Mount Holly Housing decision reversed
Residents of a Mount Holly redevelopment plan have won a federal court appeal in a discrimination case and will get their day in court.
In reversing the decision of a federal district court in Camden that favored the municipality, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said the lower court needed to develop more facts to decide whether redevelopment of the Mount Holly Gardens neighborhood discriminates against its primarily low-income and minority residents.
Most of the more than 300 houses in the blighted neighborhood already have been torn down and residents displaced by the township. A federal court order halted further demolition in March pending the appeal.
It what could be a precedent-setting case, the appeals court sent the lawsuit back to U.S. District Court Judge Noel L. Hillman for further discovery of facts, which could lead either to a trial or to another summary judgment hearing without a trial. (Comegno, Gannett)