02-2326 Discovery House, Inc. v. Consolidated City of Indianapolis (58500)

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Discovery House has a claim to standing under the ADA and RA only because it runs a business which provides services -like dispersing methadone-to persons presumably covered by those Acts. If it were running a plumbing business, it could hardly claim relief under either statute. It follows, in our view, that the remedies we may find (other than those specifically set out in the statute) must, at the very least, be those which directly benefit the disabled. It would stretch the principle of Bell v. Hood too far to find that Discovery House has standing to recover lost profits under these statutes.

“No other methadone distribution facilities had been approved in areas zoned HD-2. Importantly, there were two other methadone distribution facilities in Indianapolis, and both were in areas zoned for commercial use. As a result, the BZA concluded that the Discovery House facility was not an office for physicians, dentists, or other professionals dealing with public health as required by the HD-2 zoning ordinance, nor would it be a pharmacy, nor would it offer hospital related services. And so it concluded that Discovery House’s proposed facility was not a permitted use under HD-2 zoning.

“Discovery House attempts to negate this reason for the decision; it says the BZA members were, in fact, discriminating against its proposed clientele. While that may be a possible conclusion, in the speculative sense, the evidence falls short of proving the point. While several persons who testified against the proposed clinic at the hearing before the BZA might have been motivated by discriminatory intent, there is a paucity of evidence to show that the board itself, or its individual members, were. The motivations of witnesses cannot be held against the decisionmakers.”

Reversed and remanded.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Moody, J., Evans, J.