Feb. 20—HIGH POINT — A longtime legislative goal for many in High Point was achieved Monday.

The City Council voted unanimously to adopt a fair housing ordinance. Pending federal approval, this means that the city, for the first time in its history, will have the authority to investigate and enforce laws against discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, familial status (families with children) or disability.

The city’s Human Relations Commission has long advocated that the city handle fair housing complaints directly, instead of referring cases to the North Carolina Human Relations Commission, as is the current practice.

Several city leaders, including Mayor Cyril Jefferson, pushed for the new ordinance during the last council term, but it failed by one vote.

The November 2023 election brought wholesale changes to the makeup of the council, which made fair housing one of its first priorities.

Monday’s vote drew little attention, coming as part of the meeting’s consent agenda, which is reserved for routine and non-controversial items.

Representatives from the High Point branch of the NAACP and the High Point Regional Association of Realtors were in attendance to show support for the ordinance.

The city will next submit the ordinance to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for approval and then look to fill a fair housing investigator staff position that’s already budgeted.

The ordinance sets out the process for how complaints about alleged discriminatory housing practices can be brought by an aggrieved party or the city’s fair housing staff, which would be responsible for initiating an investigation within 30 days.

The ordinance gives the city the power to subpoena witnesses and compel the subject of a fair housing complaint to produce documents and give testimony during an investigation.

Under the ordinance, the city would seek to resolve the dispute through conciliation, but could file a civil suit against a defendant if housing discrimination is deemed to have occurred.

If a court “finds that a discriminatory housing practice has occurred or is about to occur,” the plaintiff could be awarded monetary damages and a defendant could face a fine of up to $100,000.