[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015]
A. Declaration Of Policy. The City Council of Trenton,
Missouri, hereby declares it to be the public policy of the City to
eliminate discrimination and safeguard the right of any person to
sell, purchase, lease, rent or obtain real property without regard
to race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national
origin. This Chapter shall be deemed an exercise of the police powers
of the City of Trenton, Missouri, for the protection of the public
welfare, prosperity, health and peace of the people of Trenton, Missouri.
B. The purposes of this Chapter are:
1.
To secure for all individuals within the City freedom from any discriminatory practice made unlawful by Article
II of this Chapter.
2.
To implement within the City the policies embodied in Missouri
and Federal human rights legislation and to promote cooperation between
the City and the State and Federal agencies enforcing that legislation.
3.
To provide a City Commission on Human Rights which is dedicated to the elimination of discriminatory practices made unlawful by Article
II of this Chapter.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015; Ord. No. 2018-29, 5-14-2018]
For purposes of this Article, the following definitions shall
apply:
AGGRIEVED PERSON
Any person who is attempting to provide housing for himself
and/or his family in the City of Trenton, Missouri.
BECAUSE OR BECAUSE OF
As it relates to the adverse decision or action, the protected
criterion was the motivating factor.
COMMISSION
The Missouri Commission on Human Rights.
COMPLAINANT
A person who has filed a complaint with the Commission alleging
that another person has engaged in a prohibited discriminatory practice.
DISABILITY
A physical or mental impairment which substantially limits
one (1) or more of a person's major life activities, being regarded
as having such an impairment, or a record of having such an impairment,
which with or without reasonable accommodation does not interfere
with performing the job, utilizing the place of public accommodation,
or occupying the dwelling in question. For purposes of this Chapter,
the term "disability" does not include current, illegal use of or
addiction to a controlled substance as such term is defined by Section
195.010, RSMo., however a person may be considered to have a disability
if that person:
1.
Has successfully completed a supervised drug rehabilitation
program and is no longer engaging in the illegal use of, and is not
currently addicted to, a controlled substance or has otherwise been
rehabilitated successfully and is no longer engaging in such use and
is not currently addicted.
2.
Is participating in a supervised rehabilitation program and
is no longer engaging in illegal use of controlled substances; or
3.
Is erroneously regarded as currently illegally using, or being
addicted to, a controlled substance.
DISCRIMINATION
Conduct prescribed herein, taken because of race, color,
religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age as it relates to employment,
disability or familial status as it relates to housing.
DWELLING
Any building, structure or portion thereof which is occupied
as, or designed or intended for occupancy as, a residence by one (1)
or more families, and any vacant land which is offered for sale or
lease for the construction or location thereon of any such building,
structure or portion thereof.
FAMILIAL STATUS
1.
One (1) or more individuals who have not attained the age of
eighteen (18) years being domiciled with:
a.
A parent or another person having legal custody of such individual;
or
b.
The designee of such parent or other person having such custody,
with the written permission of such parent or guardian.
2.
The protections afforded against discrimination on the basis
of familial status shall apply to any person who is pregnant or is
in the process of securing legal custody of any individual who has
not attained the age of eighteen (18) years.
HOUSING FOR OLDER PERSONS
1.
Housing:
a.
Provided under any State or Federal program that the Commission
determines is specifically designed and operated to assist elderly
persons, as defined in the State or Federal Program;
b.
Intended for, and solely occupied by, persons sixty-two (62)
years of age or older; or
c.
Intended and operated for occupancy by at least one (1) person
fifty-five (55) years of age or older per unit.
2.
Housing qualifies as housing for older persons under this Chapter
if:
a.
The housing has significant facilities and services specifically
designed to meet the physical or social needs of older persons, or
if the provision of such facilities and services is not practicable,
that such housing is necessary to provide important housing opportunities
for older persons; and
b.
At least eighty percent (80%) of the units are occupied by at
least one (1) person fifty-five (55) years of age or older per unit;
and
c.
The owner or manager of the housing has published and adhered
to policies and procedures which demonstrate an intent by said owner
or manager to provide housing for persons fifty-five (55) years of
age or older.
PERSON
Includes one (1) or more individuals corporations, partnerships,
associations, organizations, labor organizations, legal representatives,
mutual companies, joint stock companies, trusts, trustees, trustees
in bankruptcy, receivers, fiduciaries or other organized groups of
persons.
PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION
All places or businesses offering or holding out to the general
public goods, services, privileges, facilities, advantages or accommodations
for the peace, comfort, health, welfare and safety of the general
public or such public places providing food, shelter, recreation and
amusement, including, but not limited to:
1.
Any inn, hotel, motel or other establishment which provides
lodging to transient guests, other than an establishment located within
a building which contains not more than five (5) rooms for rent or
hire and which is actually occupied by the proprietor of such establishment
as his/her residence;
2.
Any restaurant, cafeteria, lunchroom, lunch counter, soda fountain
or other facility principally engaged in selling food for consumption
on the premises, including, but not limited to, any such facility
located on the premises of any retail establishment;
3.
Any gasoline station, including all facilities located on the
premises of such gasoline station and made available to the patrons
thereof;
4.
Any motion picture house, theater, concert hall, sports arena,
stadium or other place of exhibition or entertainment;
5.
Any public facility owned, operated or managed by or on behalf
of this State or any agency or subdivision thereof, or any public
corporation; and any such facility supported in whole or in part by
public funds;
6.
Any establishment which is physically located within the premises
of any establishment otherwise covered by this Section or within the
premises of which is physically located any such covered establishment,
and which holds itself out as serving patrons of such covered establishment.
RENT
Includes to lease, to sublease, to let and otherwise to grant
for consideration the right to occupy premises not owned by the occupant.
RESPONDENT
A person who is alleged to have engaged in a prohibited discriminatory
practice in a complaint filed with the Commission.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015; Ord. No. 2018-31, 5-14-2018]
A. It shall be an unlawful housing practice:
1.
To refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer,
to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, to deny or otherwise
make unavailable a dwelling to any person because of race, color,
religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, disability or familial status.
2.
To discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions
or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision
of services or facilities in connection therewith, because of race,
color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, disability or familial
status.
3.
To make, print or publish or cause to be made, printed or published
any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or
rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation or
discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin,
ancestry, sex, disability or familial status, or an intention to make
any such preference, limitation or discrimination.
4.
To represent to any person because of race, color, religion,
national origin, ancestry, sex disability or familial status that
any dwelling is not available for inspection, sale or rental when
such dwelling is in fact so available.
5.
To induce or attempt to induce any person to sell or rent any
dwelling by representations regarding the entry or prospective entry
into the neighborhood of a person or persons because of a particular
race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, disability
or familial status.
6.
To discriminate in the sale or rental, or to otherwise make
unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any buyer or renter because of
a disability of:
b.
A person residing in or intending to reside in that dwelling
after it is so sold; or
c.
Any person associated with that buyer or renter.
7.
To discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions
or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision
of services or facilities in connection with such dwelling, because
of a disability of:
b.
A person residing in or intending to reside in that dwelling
after it is so sold, rented or made available; or
c.
Any person associated with that person.
B.
1.
A refusal to permit, at the expense of the person with the disability,
reasonable modifications of existing premises occupied or to be occupied
by such person if such modifications may be necessary to afford such
person full enjoyment of the premises, except that, in the case of
a rental, the landlord may, where it is reasonable to do so, condition
permission for a modification on the renter's agreeing to restore
the interior of the premises to the condition that existed before
the modification, reasonable wear and tear excepted;
2.
A refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, polices,
practices or services when such accommodations may be necessary to
afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling;
or
3.
In connection with the design and construction of covered multi-family
dwellings for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, a failure to design
and construct those dwellings in such a manner that:
a.
The public use and common use portions of such dwellings are
readily accessible to and usable by persons with a disability;
b.
All the doors designed to allow passage into and within all
premises within such dwellings are sufficiently wide to allow passage
by persons with a disability in wheelchairs; and
c.
All premises within such dwellings contain the following features
of adaptive design:
(1) An accessible route into and through the dwelling;
(2) Light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats
and other environmental controls in accessible locations;
(3) Reinforcements in bathroom walls to allow later
installation of grab bars; and
(4) Usable kitchens and bathrooms such that an individual
in a wheelchair can maneuver about the space.
C. As used in Subdivision (3) of Subsection
(B) of this Section, the term "covered multi-family dwelling" means:
1.
Buildings consisting of four (4) or more units if such buildings
have one (1) or more elevators; and
2.
Ground floor units in other buildings consisting of four (4)
or more units.
D. Compliance with the appropriate requirements of the American National Standard for Buildings and Facilities providing accessibility and usability for people with physical disabilities, commonly cited as "ANSI A117.1" suffices to satisfy the requirements of Subsection
(B)(3)(a) of this Section.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015]
It shall be unlawful for any bank, building and loan association,
insurance company or other corporation, association, firm or enterprise
whose business consists in whole or in part in the making of commercial
real estate loans to deny a loan or other financial assistance because
of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, disability
or familial status to a person applying therefor for the purpose of
purchasing, construction, improving, repairing or maintaining a dwelling,
or to discriminate against him/her in fixing of the amount, interest
rate, duration or other terms or conditions of such loan or other
financial assistance because of the race, color, religion, national
origin, ancestry, sex, disability or familial status of such person
or of any person associated with him/her in connection with such loan
or other financial assistance, or of the present or prospective owners,
lessees, tenants or occupants of the dwellings in relation to which
such loan or other financial assistance is to be made or given.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015; Ord. No. 2018-30, 5-14-2018]
It shall be unlawful to deny any person access to or membership
or participation in any multiple listing service, real estate brokers'
organization or other service organization or facility relating to
the business of selling or renting dwellings because of race, color,
religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, disability or familial status.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015; Ord. No. 2018-28, 5-14-2018]
A. All persons within the City of Trenton are free and equal and shall
be entitled to the full and equal use and enjoyment within this City
of any place of public accommodation, as hereinafter defined, without
discrimination or segregation because of race, color, religion, national
origin, sex, ancestry or disability.
B. It is an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person, directly or indirectly, to refuse, withhold from or deny any other person or to attempt to refuse, withhold from or deny any other person any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, services or privileges made available in any place of public accommodations as defined in Section
230.020 of this Section, or to segregate or discriminate against any such person in the use thereof because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry or disability.
C. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to a private club, a place of accommodation owned by or operated on behalf of a religious corporation, association or society or other establishment which is not in fact, open to the public, unless the facilities of such establishments are made available to the customers or patrons of a place of public accommodation as defined in Section
230.020 and this Section.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015]
A. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice:
1.
To aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce the commission of acts
prohibited under this Chapter or to attempt to do so;
2.
To retaliate or discriminate in any manner against any other
person because such person has opposed any practice prohibited by
this Chapter or because such person has filed a complaint, testified,
assisted or participated in any manner in any investigation, proceeding
or hearing conducted pursuant to this Chapter.
3.
For the City to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion,
national origin, sex, ancestry, age as it relates to employment, disability
or familial status as it relates to housing; or
4.
To discriminate in any manner against any other person because
of such person's association with any person protected by this
Chapter.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015]
A. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to invalidate or limit
any law of the State or of the City that requires dwellings to be
designed and constructed in a manner that affords persons with disabilities
greater access than is required by this Chapter.
B.
1.
Requires that a dwelling be made available to an individual
whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety
of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial
physical damage to the property of others.
2.
Limits the applicability of any reasonable local restriction
regarding the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy a dwelling,
nor does any provision of said Sections regarding familial status
apply with respect to housing for older persons.
3.
Shall prohibit conduct against a person because such person
has been convicted by any court of competent jurisdiction of the illegal
manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance as defined by
Section 195.010, RSMo.
C. Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit a religious organization,
association or society or any non-profit institution or organization
operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious
organization, association or society from limiting the sale, rental
or occupancy of dwellings which it owns or operates for other than
a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion or from giving
preference to such persons, unless membership in such religion is
restricted on account of race, color or national origin. Nor shall
anything in this Chapter prohibit a private club not in fact open
to the public, which as an incident to its primary purpose or purposes
provides lodging which it owns or operates for other than a commercial
purpose, from limiting the rental or occupancy of such lodging to
its members or from giving preference to its members.
D. Nothing in this Chapter, other than the prohibitions against discriminatory advertising in Subsection
(A)(3) of Section
230.030, shall apply to:
1.
The sale or rental of any single-family house by a private individual
owner, provided the following conditions are met:
a.
The private individual owner does not own or have any interest
in more than three (3) single-family houses at any one time; and
b.
The house is sold or rented without the use of a real estate
broker, agent or salesperson or the facilities of any person in the
business of selling or renting dwellings and without publication,
posting or mailing of any advertisement. If the owner selling the
house does not reside in it at the time of the sale or was not the
most recent resident of the house prior to such sale, the exemption
in this Section applies to only one (1) such sale in any twenty-four-month
period; or
2.
Rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied
or intended to be occupied by no more than four (4) families living
independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies
one (1) of such living quarters as his/her residence.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015]
A. There is hereby created a Fair Housing Committee whose membership
shall consist of five (5) members, who shall be appointed by the Mayor
with the approval of City Council.
B. Every complaint of a violation of this Chapter shall be referred
to a Fair Housing Committee. The Fair Housing Committee shall forthwith
notify the person against whom the complaint is made. The identity
of the aggrieved person shall be made known to the person against
whom the complaint is made at that time. If the Fair Housing Committee,
after investigation, finds there is no merit to the complaint, the
same shall be dismissed. If the Fair Housing Committee finds that
there is merit in the complaint, in their opinion, then and in that
event, the Fair Housing Committee will endeavor to eliminate the alleged
discriminatory practice by conference and conciliation.
C. If the Fair Housing Committee is unable to eliminate the alleged
discriminatory practice by conference and conciliation, then and in
that event, the Fair Housing Committee shall forward said complaint
to the City Attorney for handling. The final determination of whether
to prosecute in Municipal Court shall be left to the City Attorney.
D. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed in such manner as to limit
administrative enforcement mechanisms and recourse against alleged
discriminatory housing practices through the United States Department
of Housing and Urban Development, as specified under Section 810 of
the Fair Housing Act as amended effective March 12, 1989, or through
the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, as specified in applicable
State Statutes.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015]
A. Any person convicted in Municipal Court of a violation of this Chapter
shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars
($500.00) or by confinement in the City jail for not more than ten
(10) days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
B. The City Attorney, instead of filing a complaint in the Municipal
Court, may, as an alternative remedy, seek to have the alleged discriminatory
practices abated by an action for an injunction to be maintained in
the Circuit Court of Grundy County of Missouri.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015]
If any Section, Subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase
of these standards shall be declared invalid for any reason whatsoever,
such decision shall not affect the remaining portions of this Chapter
which shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, the provisions
of this Chapter are hereby created to be severable.
[Ord. No. 2015-43A §1, 6-8-2015]
This Chapter shall not affect violations of any other ordinance,
code or regulation of the City of Trenton existing prior to June 8,
2015. Any such violations shall be governed and shall continue to
be punishable to the full extent of the law under the provisions of
those ordinances, codes or regulations in effect at the time the violation
was committed.