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LOGAN, Utah (AP) -- The Uinta Academy has filed a housing discrimination complaint, claiming Cache County limited the number of residents in a proposed group home because of its clients' mental disabilities.
The complaint was filed in response to the county's decision last April to allow no more than eight girls in a home proposed for Mount Sterling.
The academy wanted to house 12 girls with mental health disabilites in the home, according to The Herald-Journal of Logan.
Neighbors feared it would result in property values decreasing.
But county attorneys contended the Utah Antidiscrimination and Labor Division doesn't have jurisdiction over the matter because legal definitions regarding "familial status" and what constitutes a "domicile" don't apply to the group home.
The county also said that the housing discrimination complaint "should be dismissed because of Uinta's failure to meet its burden of proof before the Cache County Council, as well as for the lack of merit and jurisdiction."
County Attorney James Swink said Wednesday that as part of a Jan. 5 mediation with the labor division, Uinta put an "offer on the table where they wanted 12 people granted and no retaliation" from the county.
He said the county was considering the offer.
Bruce Baird, a Salt Lake City-based attorney for Uinta, said there are several possibilities moving forward, but the academy hoped "the county could do the right thing and issue a reasonable accommodation for 12 (clients)."
He added Uinta may file a lawsuit against the county in federal court.
The state division also could investigate the county's prior decision. If the agency determines the Fair Housing Act has been violated, it could refer the matter to the Utah Attorney General's Office or the U.S. Department of Justice for civil prosecution, Baird said.
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(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
