Fullerton officials are moving forward with a state mandated plan to designate where over 13,000 new homes will go in a built out college town in the next couple of years.
Officials approved the plan weeks ahead of a January 28 deadline that if missed could cost the city $2 million in housing grant funds and tens of thousands in fines – this in a city where officials last year projected a $20 million spending deficit in three years.
The city could also face restrictions giving out building permits and if state housing officials find the plan out of compliance, Fullerton could be subjected to a court-appointed receivership with the state, reducing local control over housing related decisions, according to a staff report.
On Tuesday, Fullerton city council members voted unanimously to approve the plan without debate.
“If adopted, the housing element will be submitted to HCD (Housing and Community Development) this week. They have roughly 60 days to review and to provide us with a compliance letter or corrections letter,” said Sunayana Thomas, the city’s director of community and economic development.
City officials in Fullerton have struggled to submit a compliant plan with the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
Last year, Fullerton leaders settled a lawsuit with the state over failing to turn in their own housing plan on time back in 2021.
[Read: CA Attorney General Enforces Housing Mandates on Orange County Cities]
City leaders previously pointed to turnover in staff for the delays.
The housing plan also comes as California state officials up the pressure on cities across the state to zone for 2.5 million new homes by the turn of the decade in an effort to address a housing unaffordability crisis.
In Fullerton, officials have to zone for over 13,000 new homes – close to 5,200 of that for very low and low income families by 2029.
Fullerton leaders – like other officials in OC – have pushed back on the number of homes they have to zone for, arguing that the process to distribute housing goals across cities in the region is inequitable and unrealistic in a city that is built out and over a century old.
Meanwhile, Huntington Beach leaders are wrapped up in two lawsuits against the state over who has the final say on local housing zoning.
[Read: Will Huntington Beach’s Legal Argument of Limited Independence Hold up in Court?]
Between 2018-2023, over 460 homes were built in Fullerton – of which, 60% were for above moderate income families, 21% for very low income families and about 16% were for low income families, according to a state database.
Orange County’s median income for a four-person household is close to $128,000, roughly 13,000 above what’s considered low income, according to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
A four-person household making less than $72,000 a year is considered very low income.
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.