Hours after state officials announced plans to sue Huntington Beach over recent housing decisions, city officials on Thursday, March 9, announced their own lawsuit filed in federal court against the state over the number of housing units the coastal town is being required to make plans to accommodate.
Cities have been allocated in a reoccurring look at state housing needs a number of homes that officials are mandated to make sure local zoning plans for by the end of the decade – Huntington Beach was allocated 13,368 new homes. Cities aren’t the builders, they just have to have the local planning in place that would allowed developers to build to that capacity.
Huntington Beach leaders argue that as a charter city, Huntington Beach has greater autonomy and, therefore, isn’t subject to state housing laws.
Councilman Casey McKeon, who has been vocal in the pushback against the state allocation, said the amount of housing envisioned in Huntington Beach is unrealistic and the mandate is largest among all coastal cities in Orange County. He points to San Bernardino City, a city with a population similar to the 200,000 in Huntington Beach, which is being asked to provide 8,000 units.
“The (Regional Housing Needs Allocation) numbers are fraudulent,” he said, adding the city is not against reasonable development. “We want to be good neighbors and help add housing needs.”
And, he points to Sacramento and government regulations that he said are driving up the cost of housing
“California is by far the most expensive state to build in,” he said. “The overreach is driving up the cost of housing. We want to work with the local economy and make the job market strong, so we can create an environment where people can live here. We want to do that through our own local economy.”
“If Sacramento is micro-managing cities, why even have city councils?” he said.
Thursday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with other state…
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