The state of California and the City of Huntington Beach have entered into a legal battle, filing dueling lawsuits centered on the Regional Housing Needs Allocation plan.
The RHNA is a process requiring cities and counties to create a plan to build more housing for people at all income levels.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development determines how many new units each city must add. It is then up to the local governments to develop a plan to create the new housing to meet the demand. The plans then must be approved by the state.
The state has directed Huntington Beach to build 13,368 new homes by 2029.
After multiple warning from the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and the HCD announced two lawsuits against the City of Huntington Beach for failing to comply with the housing requirements.
“Huntington Beach is exhibit A in what’s wrong with housing in the state of California,” Newsom said. “They’re exhibit A of what NIMBY-ism looks like, and they are not representing the people they claim to represent.”
In response, the City of Huntington Beach filed a lawsuit in federal court against the state, arguing the state is overreaching by forcing housing mandates on local governments.
Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland joined “Inside the Issues” host Amrit Singh to discuss the legal battle, and the proposed housing requirements.
“I’m not against development, but what I’m against is the urbanization of Huntington Beach,” Strickland said.
The mayor added that a reason the people of Huntington Beach voted for him was to fight against urbanization.
Strickland argued the new units would greatly impact the city’s population density, which is already a problem for residents.
If Huntington Beach continues to not comply, the state could utilize “builder’s remedy” which allows for developers to construct affordable housing without needs to comply with city zoning laws. It can only be used if a city is deemed noncompliant with state housing laws.
The mayor said the city filed in federal court because he believes California utilizing builder’s remedy violates his freedom of speech due to having to approve plans without having to comply with local zoning laws for new developments such as local traffic and noise reviews.
“As a mayor, I have to say overriding consideration, you’re housing, overriding consideration throws all that out the window,” Strickland said.
Homelessness, a major issue throughout the state, is intertwined with the availability of affordable housing. Although Strickland said building housing in areas that want to do development would help, the other factors of homelessness must be addressed.
“A lot of these [people] are PTSD former veterans and we do need to invest in mental health and a lot of the homeless population, we do need to get them off the streets and get them the help that they deserve,” Strickland said.
Although Strickland has worked to help the homeless crisis, he feels Huntington Beach is singled out when it comes to the housing mandates.
“Huntington Beach is unfairly treated,” he said. “There’s hundreds of cities that are out of compliance, but the governor and the attorney general chose to come after Huntington Beach.”
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