Full opinion text
OPINION OF THE COURT GARTH, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs, various individuals eligible for low-income public housing in Philadelphia and organizations with a membership interested in such housing, seek relief in this civil rights action against the City of Philadelphia, the City’s housing authority (“PHA”), and its redevelopment authority (“RDA”), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). The dispute centers upon a plot of land in South Philadelphia which was condemned and cleared as a site for low-income public housing in 1959, and which has remained vacant since then. The district court found that the four governmental defendants had committed violations of various constitutional and statutory duties, 425 F.Supp. 987 (E.D.Pa.1976). The court ordered injunctive relief as follows: (1) the governmental defendants were ordered to “take all necessary steps” for the construction of the planned project; (2) PHA was ordered to formulate a plan for the racial composition of the project when built and tenanted; (3) PHA was ordered to formulate a plan to further the integration of all Philadelphia public housing projects; and (4) all parties were enjoined from interfering with the construction of the project. All defendants except HUD have appealed. We affirm the district court’s finding that, in delaying and frustrating the construction of the project, the City of Philadelphia acted with discriminatory intent and thereby violated plaintiffs’ constitutional and statutory rights. We also affirm the finding that PHA and RDA have violated Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 in failing to carry out the construction of the project; however, we affirm not on the ground relied upon by the district court (that the agencies were liable for not acting affirmatively to end racial discrimination as mandated by § 3608(d)(5) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3608(d)(5)), but on the ground that their activities in clearing the site “[made] unavailable or [denied] a dwelling to . person[s] because of race” within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a). We therefore affirm those sections of the district court order directing the construction and tenanting of the project at issue (parts (1) and (2)). We also affirm so much of part (4) of the order as enjoins interference with the project’s construction by the governmental defendants, but we vacate so much of that paragraph which enjoins the Whitman Area Improvement Council (“WAIC”). Because we can find no basis for the far-reaching equitable relief granted against PHA with respect to all public housing in Philadelphia, we also vacate part (3) of the district court’s order. I. A. Facts The focal point of this dispute is the Whitman Urban Renewal Area (“Whitman”) in South Philadelphia. Within the Whitman Urban Renewal Area is the site of the project (henceforth “Whitman project”) which is at issue here. Like other neighborhoods in urban America, Whitman has undergone a transformation in its racial composition over the past several decades. Unlike most, however, Whitman has changed from an originally racially mixed area to one which is virtually all-white. Moreover, this change has resulted almost wholly from the urban renewal efforts of the defendant governmental agencies. As revealed by the district court’s analysis, Whitman’s present all-white population must be viewed against a backdrop of, on the one hand, a growing concentration of blacks and other minorities in discrete, insular sections of Philadelphia (North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia and South Central Philadelphia), and on the other, a reduction in the number of blacks residing in other parts of the city, including Whitman. The net result has been, in the words of the district court, that “[t]he City of Philadelphia is today a racially segregated city.” 425 F.Supp. at 1006. This litigation involves not the city as a whole, however, but only the Whitman Urban Renewal Area for which the public housing at issue was planned. That area is a residential area consisting of block upon block of two-story row houses. Prior to the postwar concentration of blacks in the three sections of Philadelphia previously mentioned (North, West, and South Central Philadelphia), a substantial number of black residents could be found in Whitman’s row houses. Still, a trend away from a dispersed black population throughout Philadelphia — and, by inference, a trend away from an integrated Whitman — was evident as early as 1940. That year’s census revealed a decline of about 300 blacks from the population of Whitman. 425 F.Supp. at 1009. As late as 1950 though, a number of black households were to be found in the southeast and northwest corners of this area. Indeed, 75 black families lived in the southeast corner alone, Exhibit P-168. Of this number 52 families lived in a five-square-block area that would be leveled during 1959-60 in the initial phase of urban renewal in Whitman. As found by the district court, these 52 households constituted “46% of the families living [in this five-block area], which made this area an integrated section of Philadelphia.” 425 F.Supp. at 1009. Though integrated, Whitman was also somewhat dilapidated — although subsequent developments were to show that the existing housing stock, i. e., the two-story row houses, could be salvaged through renovation. In the mid-1950’s, however, renewal meant something other than renovation or restoration: renewal meant the razing of existing structures and the construction of “public housing” high-rise buildings. Thus when urban renewal came to Whitman in 1959-60, the integrated, five-block site mentioned above was cleared of its residents, and its structures were leveled. The cleared site has remained virtually untouched, and without building construction, since that time. Such, of course, was not the plan. The Philadelphia Housing Authority (“PHA”) acquired the site through condemnation during 1959 and 1960, with the intention of constructing low-income public housing. After hearings PHA obtained necessary approvals both from the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and, in 1957, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). On June 26, 1960, demolition contracts were awarded, and shortly thereafter the site was cleared. The 1960 census tract reflects the impact of PHA’s renewal efforts. With site clearance underway, only four black families were to be found within the five-block project site. 425 F.Supp. at 1009. To quote the district court, PHA action “had the effect of removing some of the Black families who lived on the Whitman site.” Id. at 995. Thus by 1960 the ongoing clearance of the Whitman project site had worked substantial changes in the racial composition of the southeast section of Whitman, an area that had previously been integrated to the extent of having 46% black families. Condemnation and demolition had forced some black families to move out of Whitman, while others had relocated in the blocks adjacent to the project site (N.T. 31-147). By 1970, however, not one black family was to be found in the entire southeast corner of Whitman (Exhibit P-170). Indeed, the 1970 census revealed that only 100 blacks remained in the Whitman Urban Renewal Area as a whole (down from 200 in 1960 and from 400 in 1950 (N.T. 31-70)), and these families were concentrated in the northwest section of Whitman. PHA’s original plan for the Whitman site called for the development of a low-income project (“Delaware Towers”), which would consist of four high-rise apartment buildings. Because this plan, if implemented, would have required additional annexation of two small parcels of land, PHA held a public hearing on January 12, 1961. 425 F.Supp. at 987. Local opposition to highrise, low-income housing on the Whitman site surfaced at this hearing, and, although the additional annexation was approved, community opposition to the construction of high-rise public housing on the Whitman site intensified. The high-rise opponents formed the Whitman Area Improvement Council to continue their fight. 425 F.Supp. at 995. Subsequently, Congress enacted the Housing Act of 1964, which included as § 1007 of that Act the so-called Barrett Amendment, which produced a change in the design of the Whitman project from high-rise towers to one- and two-family home construction. See 425 F.Supp. at 996. Thus, five years after condemnation and clearance of the Whitman project site by PHA, planning for the site had to begin anew. The shift away from high-rise construction brought a new city agency into the planning process for the Whitman site — the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia (“RDA”). RDA had earlier become involved in Whitman when, on October 27, 1963, it sought federal approval for the Whitman Urban Renewal Area. RDA’s original plan involved razing an additional 103 homes in Whitman and rehabilitating 2500 more. This Whitman Urban Renewal plan did not itself affect the Whitman project site. Although the site was located within the Urban Renewal Area, it was designated as land to be used solely for public housing; indeed, the project site was the only area in Whitman which was designated for that purpose. 425 F.Supp. at 995. RDA’s plan did not involve public housing per se, but rather involved assuring a substantial number of comfortable, attractive single-family residences in Whitman through the replacement or renovation of existing row-houses. The district court summarized RDA’s efforts in Whitman as follows: RDA, with federal funds from HUD and from other sources, condemned and acquired a total of 101 properties and parcels of land in the Whitman Urban Renewal Area at a total estimated cost of $1,550,075. Between 1969 and 1973, 109 new homes were privately developed and sold for between $25,000 and $30,000, all of which were eligible for FHA-insured mortgages. (N.T. 2-16). There was no opposition by WAIC to these privately developed homes. (N.T. 2-20). From January 1, 1966 until May 1, 1975, Whitman residents, through RDA and with the aid of federal funds, have obtained $2,718,278 in loans and grants to rehabilitate their homes. (N.T. 2-20). A total of 1,123 households have received funds from this program. Over one-fourth of all the households in the Whitman area have benefited from the grant and loan program initiated by RDA. (N.T. 2-21). Further, urban renewal activities in the area have included a wide range of activities benefiting the Whitman area. (N.T. 2-20). 425 F.Supp. at 996. All of this RDA sponsored reconstruction in Whitman took place outside of the vacant Whitman project site. As described above by the district court, RDA condemned several blocks adjacent to the project site. Through the efforts of private developers, new townhouses were built on these sites. All of these houses were sold to and are occupied by white families. It will be recalled that the clearance of the Whitman project site during 1959-60 had reduced the total number of black households in southeastern Whitman. Some of these families had relocated in areas adjacent to the cleared project site. RDA’s condemnation of several of these blocks for construction during 1969-73 had the effect of again dislocating these families. The 1970 census revealed that the combined effect of PHA’s and RDA’s failure to provide any low-income housing on the vacant Whitman project site, and RDA’s condemnation of several blocks adjacent to the project site resulted in an all-white area in southeastern Whitman. In sum, to repeat the conclusion of the district court, “[t]he effect of these urban clearance actions by both RDA and PHA appears to have converted an integrated area of Philadelphia into a non-integrated area.” 425 F.Supp. at 1009. Although the Whitman project site lay vacant throughout this period (1960-70), planning for the site continued. With the enactment of the Barrett Amendment and the abandonment of a high-rise design, a new plan for the site, involving both PHA and RDA, was developed. PHA sold the Whitman site to RDA for $1,217,679.59. 425 F.Supp. at 996. RDA in turn was to convey the site to a private developer, which would construct low-rise public housing upon it. The need for a new plan that would be acceptable to WAIC led to the endorsement of the concept of a “turnkey” developer. As described by the district court: A turnkey developer differed from a conventional housing developer in that the turnkey developer would purchase the land, hire the architect to design the project, produce the drawing, set a cost for his project and then submit his proposal to the Housing Authority. (N.T. 5-22). The Housing Authority, if it decided to accept a turnkey developer’s proposal, would, after appropriate public hearings and approvals, sign a contract with the turnkey developer and HUD, which specified that the turnkey developer would build the project and upon completion turn it over to the Housing Authority for the agreed upon purchase price. The Housing Authority would manage the project and HUD would provide the necessary subsidies. (N.T. 5-22, 5-23). 425 F.Supp. at 996. HUD’s involvement necessitated review by the agency’s Equal Opportunity staff. As the . Whitman project site could now be described as an integrated project planned for an all-white area, HUD approved the site for low-income, turnkey housing on June 4, 1968. PHA and RDA solicited turnkey developers for the project during the latter part of 1969. From the 12 developers who responded, PHA chose Multicon Construction Corp. and Multicon Properties, Inc. (“Multicon”) to build the Whitman project. PHA’s choice of Multicon was approved by HUD on May 20, 1970. RDA and Multicon entered into a contract on July 14,1970 under which Multicon might obtain the project site and build the project. The Philadelphia City Council and then-Mayor Tate enacted an ordinance approving Multicon; an agreement of sale was executed by PHA and Multicon; and, on October 30, 1970, RDA conveyed title of the site to Multicon. Multicon’s design called for the building of 120 townhouses on the Whitman site. Unlike most public housing to that point in time, each unit was to be a discrete structure on its own plot of land — much closer in conception to the detached, single-family home characteristic of suburban develop-merits than to the typical multi-family structures characteristic of low-income public housing. Indeed, one reason why Multicon’s plan was selected was its compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood: the plan “maintained existing street patterns and the housing was of the same design as the other houses in the Whitman area.” 425 F.Supp. at 997. This design also met the requirements for a newly promulgated federal program, “Turnkey III”, under which the tenants of a project could eventually own their homes by paying rent, assuming maintenance responsibilities and residing in the project for a designated time. Approval of an urban renewal project necessitated consultation with local community representatives. WAIC was designated the “local citizen participation unit” for the Whitman Urban Renewal Area. The district court described a process of extended consultation with and participation by WAIC during the course of the approval process. 425 F.Supp. at 997. WAIC’s suggestions produced modifications in Multicon’s plan, and the result, by June 2, 1970, was a meeting at which the Turnkey III proposal was fully explained. The minutes of the June 2d meeting reported a consensus: “It was agreed the proposed plans look excellent.” (N.T. 2-26). WAIC’s endorsement of the planned townhouses is revealed in a letter dated June 9, 1970, from the then-President of WAIC to Multicon, the developer: We were very impressed with the plans and feel that the design of these houses will make them an asset to our community- (N.T. 2-26). A ground-breaking ceremony for the Whitman Park Townhouse Project was held on December 16, 1970. Between the ground-breaking and the scheduled start of construction in late March 1971, however, WAIC’s attitude toward the Townhouse Project shifted and hardened. By January 28, 1971, the President of WAIC was expressing doubts about the project; by March 22, 1971, WAIC had elected a new President and had decided to oppose the project — specifically, “to demonstrate the next morning” when construction was finally to begin. (N.T. 2-33). The stipulated facts revealed the following sequence of events when Multicon sought to commence construction of its townhouses on March 23rd: Beginning on or about 7:30 A.M. on March 23, 1971 approximately thirty women, some of whom were WAIC members, entered on the site of the Whitman Park Townhouse Project and gathered around the bulldozer and backhoe, blocking the operations of the contractor, refusing to leave the property when so requested and preventing the operations of these pieces of equipment. Fred Druding, the new WAIC President, was also present in the morning. . On or about 9:05 A.M. on March 23, 1971 demonstrators, including WAIC members, blocked a truck on Shunk Street from the Atlas Lumber and Mill-work Company, which was attempting to make a delivery to MPI at the Whitman Park Townhouse Project, and as a result the truck driver was unable to enter the property to make the delivery. P-61 is incorporated herein. On or about eight o’clock on March 25, 1971 [former WAIC President] Mrs. Alice Moore and other demonstrators, including members of WAIC, gathered around the bulldozer of Louis Dolente and Sons, parked on the northeast corner of Hancock and Shunk Streets, thereby preventing its operation. (N.T. 2-33 to 34) (paragraph numbering omitted). Unable to begin work, Multicon sought to enjoin further demonstrations in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. Although Multicon obtained a preliminary injunction, its attempts to return to work were to no avail, as demonstrators continued to block deliveries from Multicon’s contractors and to bar all access to the project site. Multicon’s request to the Philadelphia police to enforce the state court injunction was rebuffed. Eventually, on April 30, 1971, the Pennsylvania state court judge decided to bar Multicon from attempting to return to work while the parties negotiated a settlement. 425 F.Supp. at 998. The district court summarized the ensuing negotiations between the parties as follows: Shortly thereafter, there were a series of meetings between WAIC, PHA and Multicon. (N.T. 2-78, 3-41, 3-42, 10-39). Various changes in the Whitman Park Townhouse Project were proposed to WAIC in order to settle the controversy, including opening a building in the project as a community recreation area, reserving 50% of the units for persons who were displaced by the clearance for the Whitman project, raising the income levels of those persons who would be eligible for the project and setting up a screening committee, which would include Whitman residents, to assure that those living in the project would be an asset to the community. (N.T. 3-45, 10-43, 10-44, 10-45, 10-46, 10-47). On May 17, 1971, after full discussion and consideration of the settlement proposals, WAIC voted down the final settlement offer of PHA. (N.T. 2-89, 3-45, 3-46). On May 18, 1971, Mayor Rizzo was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Mayor. (N.T. 3-53). On May 20, 1971, a meeting was held in Judge Hirsch’s chambers to consider a request by Multicon that the court’s order of April 30, 1971 be lifted and that Multicon be permitted to return to work on the Whitman Park Townhouse Project. (N.T. 3-55, 3-56, 19-21, 19-24, 19-25). At the May 20th meeting, Managing Director Corleto stated that the City would not provide police assistance for Multicon should it return to work. (N.T. 3-57, 19-26 to 19-28). Mr. Gordon Cavanaugh, Chairman of PHA, stated to those present at the meeting that he had been instructed by Mayor Tate to order Multicon not to resume work. (N.T. 2-91, 3-59, 19-26, 19-34, 19-36). Judge Hirsch then signed an order permitting Multicon to return to work. However, faced with a threatened lack of police assistance, Multicon decided that it would not then return to work. (N.T. 19-38). On June 3, 1971, Multicon approached HUD in Washington, D.C. and sought assistance from HUD in building the Whitman Park Townhouse Project. (N.T. 3-69, 10-73). Multicon requested HUD to exert whatever pressure it could upon the City to get the City to cooperate in building Whitman. (N.T. 3-69, 10-73). However, a HUD official in Washington, D.C. stated that HUD did not want to take any action until after the November, 1971 election in Philadelphia. (N.T. 10-74 to 10-76). 425 F.Supp. at 998-99. (Footnote omitted). At this juncture, on June 25, 1971, plaintiffs filed the complaint in the instant action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. However, in view of the pending state court proceedings involving the various defendants and the possibility that those proceedings might provide a resolution of the dispute over the Whitman project, the federal court action was stayed. Later, with the realization that such a final resolution would not be forthcoming in the state courts, see 425 F.Supp. at 992-93, the parties went through drawn-out, constantly contested discovery proceedings which continued until the eve of trial on October 7, 1975. During these 4V2 years of pretrial maneuvering in the federal district court, Whitman remained a site of controversy rather than a site of construction. On July 18, 1971, the same day that Multicon finally obtained a permanent injunction against WAIC’s interference with Multicon’s construction efforts at the Whitman site, WAIC filed its own lawsuit, WAIC v. Multicon, No. 1187 (July Term 1971, C.P. Phila.), in an attempt to prevent that construction. This action was to continue until March 20, 1974, when it was finally dismissed as moot. 1971 was an election year in Philadelphia. During the mayoral campaign, the present Mayor, Frank Rizzo, “publicly took the position that within the framework of the law, he would support local communities in their opposition to public housing projects proposed for their neighborhoods. (N.T. 42-75, 42-77).” 425 F.Supp. at 1001. While campaigning, Mayor Rizzo strongly supported WAIC’s resistance to the Whitman project. Once elected, the opposition of Mayor Rizzo and his City Administration to the Whitman project did not abate. Indeed, Mayor Rizzo told James Greenlee, the chairman of PHA, that he meant to honor his campaign promise to Whitman residents that the Townhouse project would not be built. 425 F.Supp. at 1002. The Mayor urged Greenlee to investigate the possibility of cancelling the project. Mayor Rizzo was informed that cancellation of the Townhouse project would jeopardize federal funding for the entire city, especially in light of the project’s HUD-necessitated pairing with the already constructed Morton Addition Project in a racially impacted area of Philadelphia. See note 7 supra. In view of these possible consequences, Green-lee suggested that an attempt at compromise should be made. Mayor Rizzo rejected any compromise where “people in the area felt that Black people would be moving into the area if public housing were built.” 425 F.Supp. at 1002. Faced with Mayor Rizzo’s unequivocal disavowal of PHA’s obligation to build the Whitman Townhouse project, Greenlee described to Rizzo the procedure for cancellation of public housing projects set out in the so-called “Phillips Amendment,”’ Pub.L. No. 83-176, 67 Stat. 298, 306. In addition to requiring that the City repay any federal monies advanced and settle all claims by the builder, the Phillips Amendment would require a public hearing before the Philadelphia City Council. Mayor Rizzo indicated that the City’s termination costs would be no obstacle; however, the public hearing requirement was anathema to him because the procedure “would bring Black people to City Hall to protest the proposed cancellation.” 425 F.Supp. at 1002. The City’s subsequent opposition to the Whitman project took many forms. These were detailed in part by the district court when it described some of the difficulties encountered by Multicon. 425 F.Supp. at 999-1001. In addition, Multicon, the project developer, was told by Deputy May- or Philip Carroll “that the City did not want the Whitman project built.” Id. at 1002. Multicon turned to HUD for assistance in clearing the City’s impediments to construction, 425 F.Supp. at 1002, asking that HUD consider use of its power to cut off all federal funding to the City to force the construction of the project. HUD rejected this suggestion “for political reasons.” Id. at 1002-03 n.28. Meanwhile, RDA set the stage for a possible termination of the construction contract. The district court opinion notes that RDA passed a resolution on April 28, 1972, authorizing its general counsel to act in the event PHA certified that Multicon was in default on the contract. Id. at 1003. Multicon thus found itself between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, it was bound by its contract with PHA to complete construction by April 29, 1972, and was therefore potentially liable for breach of contract if it failed to complete the project. On the other hand, the combined opposition of WAIC and the City prevented construction from going forward. Choosing the alternative of once again attempting to resume construction, Multicon gave notice to the City that such construction would begin on June 26, 1972. Multicon’s optimism was not fulfilled. State-court litigation ensued. The district court’s opinion traces these state court proceedings and we will not burden this opinion with a recitation of those events. Suffice it to say that this litigation did not result in a resumption of construction of the Whitman project. See 425 F.Supp. at 1003-06. As of the present time, the site is vacant, with no construction apparently contemplated. Still, HUD holds an appropriation of $3.68 million for the construction of the Whitman Townhouse project as planned. 425 F.Supp. at 1006. B. Procedural History This case, as noted above, first came before the district court in 1971. Because of the parties’ hope that ongoing state court litigation would produce a settlement resolving their dispute, and because of the complexity of pretrial discovery once that hope was proved futile, trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania did not begin until October 7, 1975. The case was tried without a jury over a span of 57 days. Plaintiffs brought the suit as a class action, claiming to represent all low income minority persons residing in the City of Philadelphia who, by virtue of their race, are unable to secure decent, safe and sanitary housing, outside of areas of minority concentration, and who would be eligible to reside in the Whitman Park Townhouse Project. 425 F.Supp. at 993. The district court certified the suit as a class action on behalf of this class on May 8, 1975. Several individual members of the class were also named as plaintiffs, although only one of these testified at trial. Two organizational plaintiffs are also parties. The Resident Advisory Board (“RAB”) has at least a nominal membership of “all those currently living in public housing in the City of Philadelphia,” 425 F.Supp. at 993, and, pursuant to an agreement with PHA, it routinely represents public housing tenants’ interests in matters concerning PHA, HUD or the tenants themselves. The other organizational plaintiff, the Housing Task Force of the Urban Coalition, is described as a division of the Urban Coalition “concerned mainly with improving housing conditions for lower income people . [and] with the availability of public housing for those low income groups.” Id. at 994. Originally, the defendants were the May- or of Philadelphia in 1971, James H. J. Tate, the City Managing Director Fred Corleto, and the two Multicon corporations. WAIC was permitted to intervene as a defendant, and PHA, RDA and HUD were added, first, as third party defendants (by WAIC) and eventually as defendants (by plaintiffs). The change in City administrations in 1972 resulted in joinder of Mayor Rizzo and the City’s new Managing Director, Hillel Levinson, as individual defendants. The new Mayor and Managing Director were substituted in their official capacities as well. Finally, the Philadelphia City Council was added to the roll of defendants to protect against the contingency of the district court’s ordering relief that could only be afforded by City Council action. The 57-day trial produced a voluminous record, which included several hundred exhibits and testimony from experts for both sides as well as from various public officials. At the conclusion of the trial, the district court determined that plaintiffs were entitled to equitable relief and on November 5, 1976, entered the following order: [I]t is hereby ORDERED as follows: (1) The defendants Philadelphia Housing Authority, Redevelopment Authority for the City of Philadelphia, City of Philadelphia, Department of Housing and Urban Development, their officers, agents, and employees shall immediately take all necessary steps for the construction of the Whitman Park Townhouse Project as planned. (2) PHA shall submit to this Court within ninety days a plan for the racial composition of the Whitman Park Townhouse Project. (3) PHA shall present to this Court within ninety days a plan concerning the tenanting of all public housing projects within the City of Philadelphia which will further racial integration. (4) All parties to this litigation are enjoined from taking any action which will interfere in any manner with the construction of the Whitman Park Townhouse Project. 425 F.Supp. at 1029. Defendants PHA, RDA, WAIC and the City have appealed. While the district court has yet to render final judgment within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291, nevertheless this Court has jurisdiction to review the four-part injunctive Order of November 5, 1976, see 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1), despite the fact that in part the district court order contemplates no more than the submission of plans by PHA. Frederick L. v. Thomas, 557 F.2d 373, 378-81 (3d Cir. 1977). II. At the outset we observe that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 97 S.Ct. 555, 50 L.Ed.2d 450 (1977), resolves any doubt that the district court correctly reached the merits of this dispute. Based upon the Arlington Heights discussion of standing — and its discussion of Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975)—it is clear that both the institutional and individual plaintiffs here have “ ‘alleged such a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy’ as to warrant [their] invocation of federal-court jurisdiction and to justify exercise of the court’s remedial powers on [their] behalf.” Specifically, the Arlington Heights Court looked to the injury suffered by a potential tenant of the specific project which had not yet been approved for construction because of Arlington Heights’ refusal to rezone. That “tenant’s” complaint, far from being a mere “generalized grievance,” '“focus[ed] on a particular project and [was] not dependent on speculation about the possible actions of third parties not before the court.” 429 U.S. at 264, 97 S.Ct. at 563. Thus the Supreme Court concluded that the Arlington Heights plaintiffs had standing to assert their claims, and the Court proceeded to reach the merits of the controversy. Here, the named individual plaintiffs assert the same type of allegation that sufficed to afford standing in Arlington Heights. Their grievance, like that of the potential “tenant” in Arlington Heights, focuses on the failure by responsible public officials to take the steps necessary to construct a specific project (the Whitman Townhouse project). As in Arlington Heights, granting the relief that the plaintiffs here seek will produce “at least a ‘substantial probability’ that the [Whitman] project will materialize, affording [plaintiffs] the housing opportunities [they] desire.” Id. (citation omitted). As the district court’s discussion reveals, 425 F.Supp. at 1011-12, two separate individuals — Jean Thomas (a present public housing tenant) and Nellie Reynolds (the head of RAB and a present public housing tenant) — -testified that each would suffer a particularized injury if the Whitman project is not constructed. In addition a substantial portion of the membership of RAB would also be eligible to live in the Whitman project if completed. Thus RAB, with a number of members who could individually aver an “actionable causal relationship” between the failure to construct the Whitman project and his or her own injury, has standing to raise the claims asserted by plaintiffs. Compare United States v. SCRAP, 412 U.S. 669, 93 S.Ct. 2405, 37 L.Ed.2d 254 (1973) (standing found where injury to individual members was shown) with Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 92 S.Ct. 1361, 31 L.Ed.2d 636 (1972) (no standing in absence of showing of particularized injury to members). We therefore proceed to the merits. III. A. HUD Section 3608(d)(5) of Title 42, United States Code, directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to: administer the programs and activities relating to housing and urban development in a manner affirmatively to further the policies of this subchapter. HUD, obviously recognizing its affirmative duty (to exercise its best efforts to have the project constructed), has not appealed from the district court’s Order of November 5, 1976. B. The City The district court based its issuance of injunctive relief against the City of Philadelphia on three separate grounds. First, the City was found liable for failing to undertake affirmative action “implementing the national policy of fair housing,” i. e., failing to discharge duties imposed by 42 U.S.C. § 3608(d)(5). See 425 F.Supp. at 1018-19. Second, the court found the City liable under an unspecified section of Title VIII because the City’s actions with respect to the Townhouse project had “a disparate racial effect” and thus established a Title VIII prima facie case not overcome by any “compelling governmental interest.” See id. at 1021-24. Finally, the court found that the City had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 & 1982) and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments because the actions of the City had a racially discriminatory impact and were taken with a discriminatory purpose or motivation. 425 F.Supp. at 1024, 1025. We conclude, as did the district court, that the City violated § 1981 and § 1982 by depriving plaintiffs of constitutional rights guaranteed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. Current Supreme Court decisions mandate that to establish that a governmental defendant has abridged constitutional guaranties, something more than a disproportionate discriminatory impact must be proved. This “impact-plus” test is satisfied only if, in addition to disproportionate impact, a discriminatory purpose is shown. Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229, 239—45, 96 S.Ct. 2040, 48 L.Ed.2d 597 (1976); see also Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman, - U.S. -, -, 97 S.Ct. 2766, 53 L.Ed.2d 851 (1977) (test is “whether there was any action [by government defendants] which was intended to, and did in fact, discriminate”); Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., supra, 429 U.S. at 265, 97 S.Ct. at 563 (“Proof of racially discriminatory intent or purpose is required to show a violation of the Equal Protection Clause”). Where civil rights plaintiffs claim that discrimination in housing has worked a deprivation of equal protection, the starting point for analysis is the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Arlington Heights, supra. In that case, the Village of Arlington Heights was requested to rezone a tract of land to permit construction of racially integrated low and moderate income housing. At public hearings, the Village’s Plan Commission heard opponents denounce the proposed change for a variety of reasons — the undesirability of introducing racially integrated housing to Arlington Heights (which at that time had a population that was 99.9% white); the unfairness of the change to adjacent landowners who had purchased their property in reliance upon single-family zoning; and the incompatibility of permitting multi-family construction in the middle of a single-family residential neighborhood when all other multi-family tracts (and there were such tracts) had theretofore been zoned and located to act as “buffers” between single family neighborhoods and industrial or commercial districts. See 429 U.S. at 256, 97 S.Ct. 555. The Plan Commission, and the Village, denied the requested zoning change. A subsequent civil rights action by the developers who had proposed the project (and by individuals who would be eligible to live in the project) resulted in judgment for the Village in the district court. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed, 517 F.2d 409 (7th Cir. 1975), although the court left undisturbed the district court’s finding that Arlington Heights’ denial of the requested change was not racially motivated. The Court of Appeals’ holding rested upon the assumption that a showing of a racially disproportionate impact would suffice to invalidate governmental action, absent demonstration of a compelling interest. The Supreme Court’s opinion in Washington v. Davis, supra, negated this assumption. On certiorari in Arlington Heights, the Supreme Court reversed the Seventh Circuit’s decision, citing the absence of proof of racially discriminatory intent. 429 U.S. at 268, 97 S.Ct. 555. The Court, in discussing the application of the Washington v. Davis standard in a “housing” case, said: Davis does not require a plaintiff to prove that the challenged action rested solely on racially discriminatory purposes. Rarely can it be said that a legislature or administrative body operating under a broad mandate made a decision motivated solely by a single concern, or even that a particular purpose was the “dominant” or “primary” one. In fact, it is because legislators and administrators are properly concerned with balancing numerous competing considerations that courts refrain from reviewing the merits of their decisions, absent a showing of arbitrariness or irrationality. But racial discrimination is not just another competing consideration. When there is a proof that a discriminatory purpose has been a motivating factor in the decision, this judicial deference is no longer justified. Determining whether invidious discriminatory purpose was a motivating factor demands a sensitive inquiry into such circumstantial and direct evidence of intent as may be available. The impact of the official action — whether it “bears more heavily on one race than another,” Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S., at 242, 96 S.Ct. 2040—may provide an important starting point. Sometimes a clear pattern, unexplainable on grounds other than race, emerges from the effect of the state action even when the governing legislation appears neutral on its face. Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, [6 S.Ct. 1064, 30 L.Ed. 220] (1886); Guinn v. United States, 238 U.S. 347, [35 S.Ct. 926, 59 L.Ed. 1340] (1915); Lane v. Wilson, 307 U.S. 268, [59 S.Ct. 872, 83 L.Ed. 1281] (1939); Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U.S. 339, [81 S.Ct. 125, 5 L.Ed.2d 110] (1960). The evidentiary inquiry is then relatively easy. But such cases are rare. Absent a pattern as stark as that in Gomillion or Yick Wo, impact alone is not determinative, and the Court must look to other evidence. The historical background of the decision is one evidentiary source, particularly if it reveals a series of official actions taken for invidious purposes. See Lane v. Wilson, supra; Griffin v. County School Board, 377 U.S. 218, [84 S.Ct. 1226, 12 L.Ed.2d 256] (1964); Davis v. Schnell, 81 F.Supp. 872 (S.D. Ala.), aff’d per curiam, 336 U.S. 933, [69 S.Ct. 749, 93 L.Ed. 1093] (1949); cf. Keyes v. School District No. 1, 413 U.S. [189], at 207, [93 S.Ct. 2686, 37 L.Ed.2d 548], The specific sequence of events leading up to the challenged decision also may shed some light on the decisionmaker’s purposes. Reitman v. Mulkey, 387 U.S. 369, 373-376, [87 S.Ct. 1627, 18 L.Ed.2d 830] (1967); Grosjean v. American Press, 297 U.S. 233, 250, [56 S.Ct. 444, 80 L.Ed. 660] (1936). For example, if the property involved here always had been zoned R-5 but suddenly was changed to R-3 when the town learned of MHDC’s plans to erect integrated housing, we would have a far different case. Departures from the normal procedural sequence also might afford evidence that improper purposes are playing a role. Substantive departures too may be relevant, particularly if the factors usually considered important by the decisionmaker strongly favor a decision contrary to the one reached. 429 U.S. at 265, 97 S.Ct. at 563 (footnotes omitted). With this instruction in mind, the Arlington Heights Court upheld the district court’s finding that discriminatory purpose was not a motivating factor in the Village’s decision. We note that in the instant case the district court judge gave full effect to the teachings of Washington v. Davis, even though the decision below was rendered before Arlington Heights was decided. See 425 F.Supp. at 1024-25. For example, before considering the City’s alleged breach of plaintiffs’ right to equal protection, the district court’s opinion analyzed the source and nature of the opposition of WAIC to the Whitman Townhouse project. The court concluded that although the record revealed evidence of racial bias by individual WAIC members, that evidence was insufficient to warrant a finding of racially discriminatory intent. Id. at 1024. Thus no constitutional (Thirteenth Amendment) violation by WAIC was found. Turning to the City, however, a different picture emerges. The district court held that the City had acted with racially discriminatory intent, as evidenced by: (1) the City’s joining in opposition to the Whitman Townhouse project with knowledge that some of that opposition was racially motivated; (2) Mayor Rizzo’s explicit statements equating “public housing” with “Black housing” and his public stand “against placing such housing in White neighborhoods”; and (3) the City’s taking steps to terminate the project with knowledge that the action would produce a racially discriminatory effect. 425 F.Supp. at 1025. As for the actual consequences of the failure to construct the Whitman Townhouse project, the district court found the following effects of termination: The cancellation of the Whitman Park Townhouse Project had a racially disproportionate effect, adverse to Blacks and other minorities in Philadelphia. The waiting list for low-income public housing in Philadelphia is composed primarily of racial minorities. Of the 14,000 to 15,000 people on the waiting list for public housing in Philadelphia (N.T. 56-84), 85% are Black, and 95% are considered to be of racial minority background. (N.T. 40-103). Obviously those in housing projects, which are overwhelmingly Black, and those on the public housing waiting list, are those least able to move out of the poorer, racially impacted areas of Philadelphia. The evidence also established that Blacks in Philadelphia who are concentrated in the three major Black areas of Philadelphia, have the lowest median income in comparison with the total population of Philadelphia and live in the poorest housing in Philadelphia. The Whitman Park Townhouse Project was a unique opportunity for these Blacks living in racially impacted areas of Philadelphia to live in an integrated, non-racially impacted neighborhood in furtherance of the national policy enunciated in Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Public housing offers the only opportunity for these people, the lowest income Black households, to live outside of Black residential areas of Philadelphia. Cancellation of the project erased that opportunity and contributed to the maintenance of segregated housing in Philadelphia. 425 F.Supp. at 1018. This discriminatory effect and the invidious discriminatory purpose underlying the City’s role in the project’s termination together were found to establish a constitutional violation under Washington v. Davis. Applying the Supreme Court’s Arlington Heights elaboration of the “impact-plus” test of Washington v. Davis, the district court’s conclusions are, if anything, reinforced. Under the applicable Arlington Heights criteria, “invidious discriminatory purpose” can be gleaned through an inquiry which weighs a number of factors: (1) discriminatory impact; (2) the historical background of the attacked decision; (3) the “sequence of events leading up to the challenged decisions”; (4) departures from “normal procedural sequences”; and (5) departures from normal substantive criteria. Arlington Heights, supra, 429 U.S. at 265, 97 S.Ct. 555. See pages 141-142 supra. Here, the discriminatory impact of the City’s obstruction of the project could hardly be clearer. As the district court’s findings reveal, the Whitman Townhouse project, when built and tenanted, would restore a measure of racial integration to a now-all-white portion of Whitman, thus providing an opportunity for at least some of those currently on the PHA’s public housing waiting list — 95% of whom are nonwhite — to live in an integrated, non-racially impacted environment. The City’s opposition to the construction of the project had the undeniable effect of “bearing] more heavily on one race than another,” Arlington Heights, supra, 429 U.S. at 266, 97 S.Ct. at 564, quoting Washington v. Davis, supra, 426 U.S. at 242, 96 S.Ct. 2040. But discriminatory effect, standing alone, will only infrequently suffice to establish an equal protection violation. When further inquiry into purpose is necessary — as is the case here — the remaining factors noted by the Arlington Heights Court come into play. The second “evidentiary source” to be considered, 429 U.S. at 264, 97 S.Ct. 555, is the historical background of the allegedly discriminatory decision. Here, the historical backdrop to the City’s obstruction of the Whitman project, L e., the events occurring prior to the current City Administration’s assumption of power in 1972, is easily summarized. The City’s housing authority, PHA, administered a public housing system that was de jure segregated through the 1940’s. Nonetheless, it was PHA that proposed the original high-rise project in Whitman and cleared the site for construction. The City’s role appeared to be a purely passive one at that point. When the current low-rise design was adopted, the City Council and then-Mayor Tate enacted an ordinance approving Multicon as the developer. These acts were taken before WAIC reversed its earlier endorsement of the project and began its campaign of active opposition. It was at that point that the City’s passive role ended. The City’s frustration of Multicon’s efforts to enclose the construction site (see 425 F.Supp. at 999-1001)—a security measure which, if effected, undoubtedly would have permitted construction to proceed — gives evidence of the City’s joining in community opposition. The repeated refusals by the Philadelphia police to protect Multicon’s construction activities buttress this conclusion, as does then-Mayor Tate’s decision to order Multicon to halt construction. While this background provides no direct evidence of discriminatory purpose on the City’s part, the circumstances of a sudden shift in the City’s position from passive acceptance to active opposition, in the face of protests by demonstrators manifesting racial bias, provides some indication of a.n improper motive or purpose. The third factor specified in Arlington Heights, see p. 143 supra, is the specific sequence of events leading to the challenged decision: here, the record of the Rizzo administration’s opposition to the Whitman project. During his election campaign, Mayor Rizzo repeatedly voiced objections to the Whitman project, indicating that he would preserve the City’s neighborhoods at any expense, and that he would support any community seeking to prevent construction of a housing project. See pp. 136-137 supra. In the course of exploring the possible means of preventing the project’s construction, Mayor Rizzo equated public housing with “Black housing” (because most public housing tenants are black), and stated that public housing should not be placed in white neighborhoods. 425 F.Supp. at 1001. Similarly, when Mayor Rizzo was told of the Phillips Amendment’s fairly rigorous requirements for cancelling a public housing project, he indicated that while the expense of cancellation would not be a barrier, the requirement that a public hearing be held made the procedure unpalatable because such a hearing would bring blacks to City Hall. 425 F.Supp. at 1002. The district court’s opinion also records numerous instances of departures from normal procedural sequences (the fourth Arlington Heights factor). The dispute over Multicon’s proposed fence provides but one example. City officials gave contradictory instructions, waiving permit and licensing requirements at one moment and insisting on strict compliance the next. Multicon was required to satisfy regulations involving street access and sidewalk maintenance not enforced elsewhere. The most striking example of procedural irregularity, however, is the City’s involvement in the attempted termination of the project. It was made clear to City officials that the Phillips Amendment set forth the normal procedure for terminating a project. However, because that procedure necessitated a public airing of the City’s reasons for cancellation, the Phillips Amendment was bypassed. Instead, the City insisted that Multicon, the developer, was in default, and that default by Multicon required termination of the project. The procedure adopted would seem to be especially significant where the “normal” procedure not employed would have required the City to reveal its reasons for making its decision at public hearings. A glaring “substantive” departure from normal decision-making (the fifth Arlington Heights factor) was the City’s decision to abandon a housing project which, pursuant to agreement with HUD, had been “matched” with another, already-built project. Normally, we would suspect that breaching an agreement with HUD, with the attendant risk of termination of all HUD aid, would be an unacceptable price for a City administration to pay for the cancellation of a housing project. Such was not the case here: apparently, the price, if not right, was affordable, and no regard was given to the fact that the “matched” project (the Morton Addition, see note 7 supra) had already been built. Where, as here, the applicable Arlington Heights “evidentiary sources” for a gleaning of official intent all point to unusual, aberrant circumstances surrounding the City’s action, which reveal direct and circumstantial proof of racial bias, we will not disturb the. district court’s finding that the City of Philadelphia was racially motivated in its opposition to the Whitman project. Indeed, the Arlington Heights Court all but anticipated this very case when it observed that a change in zoning laws preventing construction in the face of the announcement of a plan to erect integrated housing would present “a far different case” than Arlington Heights. The record here reveals this to be, by analogy, that “far different” case. The City of Philadelphia changed its stance from passive support for the Whitman project to active opposition only after the initiation of bias-tinged local demonstrations. In terminating the Whitman project, the City violated the plaintiffs’ right to equal protection. See also Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1, 8, 78 S.Ct. 1401, 3 L.Ed.2d 5 (1958) (school board previously going forward with preparation of desegregation plans held to have denied equal protection when in face of community and state governmental protests, it abandoned plans). To remedy Philadelphia’s violation of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, the district court ordered that the City take “all necessary steps for the construction of” and enjoined the City from interfering with, the Whitman project. 425 F.Supp. at 1029. We recognize that once a violation is found, “[t]he task is to correct, by balancing of the individual and collective interests, the condition that offends the Constitution.” Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1, 16, 91 S.Ct. 1267, 1276, 28 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971). Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s observation in Swann that “the scope of a district court’s equitable powers to remedy past wrongs is broad”, id. at 15, 91 S.Ct. at 1276, the Supreme Court has in recent equal protection cases given careful scrutiny to the choice of remedy to assure that the relief granted is no broader than that necessary to remove the violation and its effects. E. g., Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman, - U.S. -, ---, 97 S.Ct. 2766, 53 L.Ed.2d 851 (1977). See also Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 377, 96 S.Ct. 598, 46 L.Ed.2d 561 (1976). “Once a constitutional violation is found, a federal court is required to tailor ‘the scope of the remedy’ to fit ‘the nature of the violation,’ ” Brinkman, supra, - U.S. at -, 97 S.Ct. [2766] at 2775. In short, the federal equitable remedy must cure the constitutional defect but the dosage must not exceed that necessary to effect the cure. Here, the injunctive relief decreed by the district court is directly responsive to and seeks to “cure” the violation proved, which arose with the City’s resistance to, and obstruction of, the Whitman Townhouse project. As earlier indicated, see note 21 supra, having concluded that the district court did not err in its holding that the City had violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, we have no need to address the statutory arguments asserted by the plaintiffs and discussed by the district court. C. PHA and RDA Having determined that the district court’s grant of injunctive relief against the City must be affirmed, we next consider the district court’s order as it pertains to the municipal agencies PHA and RDA. As opposed to the finding of intent and discrimination which the district court made with respect to the City, neither of these agencies was found by the district court to have violated the constitutional rights of the plaintiff class. Both, however, were held liable under Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq. Because we conclude that the district court’s findings demonstrate that both PHA and RDA committed breaches of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a) by “making unavailable” or denying (Whitman) housing to members of the plaintiff class, we affirm as to these defendants §§ (1), (2) and (4) of the district court’s order which grant injunctive relief to the plaintiffs. 1. The district court based its holding of Title VIII liability against PHA and RDA upon a finding that the actions of the two agencies in Whitman resulted in a discriminatory effect, 425 F.Supp. at 1021-24, and upon the conclusion that, in producing that effect, the agencies necessarily breached the “affirmative” duty to further integration, a duty imposed by Title VIII’s § 3608(d)(5), 425 F.Supp. at 1013-21. Because we conclude that the showing of discriminatory effect established by the record violated 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a), we decline the invitation to review the finding of a breach of affirmative duty, and we leave for another day the question whether section 3608(d)(5)’s requirement that the Secretary of HUD act “affirmatively” to foster integration applies to local governmental entities as well — and, if so, whether that duty is judicially enforceable. What we do decide is that plaintiffs have established a prima facie Title VIII case under § 3604(a) against PHA and RDA by proving that the agencies’ acts had a discriminatory effect and that the agencies have failed to justify the discriminatory results of their actions. Until relatively recently, federal courts were not often called upon to adjudicate Title VIII claims. We attribute this circumstance to our impression that, at least with respect to alleged discrimination in housing by governmental agencies, the inquiry into claimed equal protection violations has made unnecessary a separate consideration of the “coextensive” rights and remedies afforded by Title VIII, However, given the increased burden of proof which Washington v. Davis and Arlington Heights now place upon equal protection claimants, we suspect that Title VIII will undoubtedly appear as a more attractive route to nondiscriminatory housing, as litigants become increasingly aware that Title VIII rights may be enforced even without direct evidence of discriminatory intent. We conclude that, in Title VIII cases, by analogy to Title VII cases, unrebutted proof of discriminatory effect alone may justify a federal equitable response. Here, the relevant provision of Title VIII is 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a), which provides that “it shall be unlawful . . . [t]o . make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, or national origin.” Section 3604 is among those sections of Title VIII that are enforceable by private parties, see 42 U.S.C. § 3612. Indeed, in Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 409 U.S. 205, 93 S.Ct. 364, 34 L.Ed.2d 415 (1972), the Supreme Court noted that “complaints by private persons are the primary method of obtaining compliance with [Title VIII].” Id. at 209, 93 S.Ct. at 366. This statement, while endorsing the viability of Title VIII claims by private plaintiffs, does not indicate the elements of such a claim. Looking to § 3604(a) itself, we note that the “because of race” language might seem to suggest that a plaintiff must show some measure of discriminatory intent. To so construe § 3604(a), however, would have the effect of increasing the plaintiffs’ burden in proving a prima facie Title VIII case to a level almost commensurate with the burden of proof required to demonstrate an equal protection violation. We would be most reluctant to sustain such a requirement. First, we find significant the fact that in Arlington Heights, the Supreme Court, after applying the Washington v. Davis “impact-plus” equal protection test to plaintiffs’ claims, remanded the case to the Seventh Circuit for consideration of plaintiffs’ Title VIII claims. In Arlington Heights the lower courts had concluded that only discriminatory effect had been proved. If the same “impact-plus” test governed Title VIII actions, consideration on remand of the § 3604(a) claim would have been unnecessary and a waste of valuable judicial resources, factors which could not have been lost upon the Supreme Court. In remanding, rather than directing the dismissal of the Arlington Heights litigation, the Court at least implied that considerations other than those necessary for proof of equal protection violations must govern Title VIII claims. On remand in Arlington Heights, the Seventh Circuit has adopted this interpretation of the Supreme Court’s action. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. v. Village of Arlington Heights, 558 F.2d 1283, (7th Cir. 1977) (Arlington Heights II). The Seventh Circuit has persuasively put to rest the assumption that the “because of race” language in § 3604(a) requires proof of Washington v. Davis intent in Title VIII cases. As Arlington Heights II points out, the “because of race” language is not unique to § 3604(a): that same language appears in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(h), yet a prima facie case of Title VII liability is made out when a showing of discriminatory effec