Emily F. Keller: Journalist

Real Estate Developer Settles Building Access Lawsuit

    The owner and developer of a luxury apartment building on the Upper West Side will be paying thousands of dollars to residents with disabilities following the legal settlement of a federal civil rights lawsuit.

    U.S. District Judge Richard Berman has ruled that L & M 93rd Street LLC and Costas Kondylis & Partners LLP Architects prohibited access for people with disabilities in their building, The Melar. Neither company could be reached for comment.

Staten Island Parents Settle Wheelchair Dispute with Condo Board

    Maria and Michael Stasinski of Bulls Head, Staten Island have settled a disagreement with their building’s condo board over the installation of a wheelchair lift for their four-year-old daughter Giuliana. The lift has now been installed.

    Giuliana has cerebral palsy. The Stasinskis received a donation of a $5,000 wheelchair lift from the Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation. However, the Richmond Mews condominium complex where they live did not initially approve its installation at the location they requested.

New York Governor Proposes Cuts to Housing Services

    New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has released a 2011-12 Executive Budget that includes reductions to housing services for people with disabilities.

    The budget aims to eliminate a $10 billion state deficit and create long-term savings without raising taxes. It calls for reductions to internal government processes, the consolidation and merging of 11 agencies and a $1 billion reduction in Medicaid spending.

City Wins Appeals Ruling on Services for Mentally Ill Inmates

    A state appeals panel has ruled that New York City is no longer required to fulfill a 2003 mandate to provide services to inmates with mental illnesses after they are released from prison.

    The August 10 decision reverses an injunction by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Shafer last year that required the city to continue complying with terms of the settlement in Brad H. v. City of New York, a lawsuit that was filed in 1999 by a group of inmates from city jails.

    The panel said the court no longer has the power to continue enforcing the settlement, which required the city to provide services to inmates leaving prison beginning in 2003 and lasting for five years. Those services included mental health treatment, medication, assistance applying for public benefits and transportation to a home or shelter.

Law Firm Charge Landlords and Owners with Housing Discrimination

    The Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC) and the law firm Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart LLP filed a lawsuit August 26 charging landlords and property owners with discriminating against an applicant with a disability.

    The lawsuit was filed in state court on behalf of Paul Solomons, 44, of New York City, against more than 20 property owners and brokers. Solomons receives Social Security Disability benefits and a Section 8 voucher from the New York City Housing Authority. He has been looking for an apartment through brokers and landlords.

Volunteers Build Low-Income Housing

    The Sammamish City Council is requiring 10 percent of the housing units built as part of the 243-acre Town Center project to be available to people with low incomes, which opens the door for the construction of up to 200 affordable units. One of the city’s potential partners in that effort is the East King County branch of the non-profit organization Habitat for Humanity International. Habitat for Humanity homes are available to people making less than 50 percent of the median income, which equates to less than $40,000 per year for a family of four in East King County.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

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Broker Out on Bond

    Sammamish resident Mustafa “Marc” Khosraw could face up to 30 years in jail for participation in what the U.S. Attorney’s Office calls a mortgage fraud scheme – one that has gained national attention.

    Khosraw, 46, is one of 406 people indicted in Operation “Malicious Mortgage,” a federal investigation that uncovered 144 mortgage fraud cases between March 1 and June 18. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that Khosraw, a mortgage broker, drafted false mortgage documents as part of a six-person team in the Puget Sound area that made $8.5 million in profits in 2004 and 2005.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the current story.

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Habitat for Humanity Has its Eye on Sammamish

  

  Governing a city with a median income that is more than double that of Washington State has its downside; creating affordable housing so people who work in Sammamish can live here too is a difficult challenge. But living in Sammamish could get a little easier with the development of Town Center, a 243-acre project that is in the planning stages. A City Council mandate means there could be as many as 200 affordable units in Town Center. They will also offer incentives that may double that number.

    One of the city’s potential partners in that effort is Habitat for Humanity, an international non-profit organization with a chapter serving East King County.

    Tom Granger (pictured), executive director for the Eastside chapter, spoke to the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce July 17 about the importance of building housing units for people with low-incomes in Sammamish.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

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City Planners Revise Roundabout Plan

    City planners have revised a roundabout plan for 244th Avenue and East Main Drive that could use eminent domain. However, some residents say they still oppose the idea of a roundabout altogether.

    John Cunningham, the city’s director of public works, said a consultant has re-designed the project, which is intended to calm traffic on the avenue, and the new plan impacts fewer property owners. He said the city plans to start construction in September.

    This follows a May 20 City Council meeting where Cunningham proposed that the city take portions of seven property owners’ yards for the roundabout. The new plan calls for taking portions of three properties, and only one is a single-family home, as opposed to three in the original plan.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

City Survey Says Permitting Process Improved

    Obtaining a land use or building permit from the city has gotten faster and easier, according to city officials and Sammamish residents. City staff processed a greater portion of home renovation permit applications within its target processing time in 2008 compared with 2007, said Kamuron Gurol, the city’s director of community development.

    The city increased its speed in all permit categories. The most significant increases were for additions and deck permits. The city met its two-day maximum goal for over-the-counter townhouse permits 60 percent of the time, compared with 10 percent in 2007. The city also met a two-week goal for small projects permits for townhouses 67 percent of the time, compared with 16 percent in 2007, Gurol told the Council in a quarterly presentation June 17. He attributed the city’s success in part to its transition to an online application process.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.