<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Are there any ordinances on the establishment of a halfway house in Lake Charles?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">City attorney Billy Loftin said that using provisions in the city’s zoning code “in an effort to prevent the location of halfway houses and three-quarter houses in areas zoned for residential use would be a prohibited discriminatory practice pursuant to the Fair Housing Act.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The federal housing law, last amended in 1988, says that it’s illegal “to discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection with such dwelling, because of a handicap.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The term “handicap” covers people with physical or mental disabilities, along with those who were once addicted to drugs — i.e., groups of people who receive services via communal-living arrange</span><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">ments and other, similar residential set-ups.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Some individuals with disabilities may live together in congregate living arrangements, often referred to as ‘group homes,’ ” reads the website of the U.S. Justice Department.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The Fair Housing Act prohibits municipalities and other local government entities from making zoning or land use decisions or implementing land use policies that exclude or otherwise discriminate against individuals with disabilities.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Some things municipalities can’t do under the law, according to the site:</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“Utilize land use policies or actions that treat groups of persons with disabilities less favorably than groups of non-disabled persons.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“Take action against, or deny a permit, for a home because of the disability of individuals who live or would live there.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“Refuse to make reasonable accommodations in land use and zoning policies and procedures where such accommodations may be necessary to afford persons or groups of persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing.”</span>

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<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">www.justice.gov.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AHeadBrief">Project at overpasses to affect traffic flow</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Can you please tell us what type of work is being done at Enterprise Boulevard and I-10?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Sure.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Workers are constructing turnarounds beneath the overpasses at Enterprise and Kirkman Street.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">City officials have said the project is part of a yearslong effort to revitalize the area — home to the Nellie Lutcher Cultural District; make the Interstate 10 corridor more attractive to businesses; and improve traffic flow.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The website of the state Department of Transportation and Development lists the contract amount as $2,545,884 and says the work should be completed by the end of fall ?— a revision from the original end-of-summer estimate.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">www.dotd.la.gov.</span>

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<span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">The I</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nform</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">er answers questions from rea</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ders each Sunday, Monday a</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nd Wednesday. It is re</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">searched and written by</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Andrew Perzo</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">, an</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">American Press</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">staff wri</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ter. To ask a question, call</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">494-409</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">8 and leave voice mail, or ema</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">il informer@americanpress.com.</span>