California Attorney General Rob Bonta has zeroed in on Orange County cities flouting state housing laws in recent weeks, announcing a new settlement with the City of Fullerton, compelling them to zone for more housing.
Bonta’s also looking to unfreeze the state’s lawsuit against Surf City, which was delayed after the city sued the state in federal court and that case took precedence.
The push comes as other cities have seen their zoning powers taken away by an increasingly proactive state Department of Justice focused on greenlighting new housing development.
In December, an LA county superior court judge blocked the city of Beverly Hills from issuing any building permits except for new housing as a punishment for the city’s failure to zone for more affordable housing under state mandates.
Huntington Beach Bucks Housing Law, Gets AG’s Attention
State housing department officials have threatened similar consequences for Huntington Beach should they lose their lawsuit against state leaders, which claims the city is exempt from state housing law as a charter city.
[Read: California’s Battle With Huntington Beach Over Housing Goals Heads To Court]
The state and city are currently fighting about the issue in both state and federal appeals court, where Surf City leaders are arguing their federal case against the state should be allowed to continue after a judge threw it out last year.
[Read: Huntington Beach Reignites Fight Against State Housing Law]
In a news release earlier this month, Bonta said he would “continue to use every legal tool available to hold those who break state housing laws accountable.”
Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said he’s not worried about the state’s effort to renew their case, adding he’d be arguing against their efforts in court on Monday.
“The city’s done great, in basically defending against the state and all the nonsense,” Gates said in a Wednesday interview, adding he could beat the state’s lawsuit against the city.
When asked about the federal case, Gates said he was confident the case would be able to continue because it was the city’s right to defend itself under the First Amendment.
“If you can’t go to court with a free speech violation, then there is no free speech,” Gates said. “Charter cities are emancipated from the state – they don’t get their authority from the state, but their authority from the California Constitution and the people of the city.”
Fullerton’s Housing Woes
As Huntington Beach has waged a very public fight with Bonta, Fullerton leaders kept theirs much quieter as they looked to meet the state’s demands for new housing.
Last week, city officials reached a settlement in a lawsuit with the state over failing to turn in their own housing plan to zone for over 13,000 new homes – close to 5,200 of that for very low and low income families by 2029.
According to 2023 income limits from the state Housing and Community Development department, the median household income is $127,800 in OC and if a household of four makes less than $43,050 a year, they are considered extremely low income.
The city’s state mandated plan is over two years late and as part of the settlement city officials must adopt a compliant plan by Nov. 5.
Fullerton City Councilman Nick Dunlap called the suit from the state “unnecessary,” and said the new requirements were “outrageous.”
“It is shameful that the prior council did nothing to advocate for our community in an attempt to reduce those numbers,” Dunlap said in a Tuesday email. “The prior council did not leave us with any options to use when standing up for our community.”
Officials will also have to update their zoning laws by the end of the year to include thousands of affordable homes and will not be able to deny housing projects on the basis of zoning until they have a compliant plan.
Failing to abide by the settlement could mean city council members lose their ability to approve and deny housing projects and could lead to fines.
“This agreement lays out a clear path to compliance with milestones, as well as consequences if they fail to meet those commitments,” said California Department of Housing and Community Development Director Gustavo Velasquez in a Jan. 17 news release.
“HCD takes enforcement of our state housing laws seriously. We are committed to helping Fullerton and cities and counties across the state adopt and implement prohousing policies.”
Dunlap said the delays were due to significant staff turnover, with the city moving through four city managers in three years, along with losing the head of the Community Development department, their replacement, and five other senior members of the department.
“We replaced them, and our new personnel and new consultant have hit the ground running,” Dunlap said. “The city will not need to start from scratch.”
A community meeting on the plan is expected to be held on Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Fullerton City Library Conference center.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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