Attorney General Threatens To Sue OC City For Housing Ordinance

A bare majority of the city council mentioned their intent in a Dec. 20 meeting to take on the state’s builder’s remedy law. The city’s planning commission is scheduled to talk about the proposal during its Tuesday meeting.

“California is facing a housing crisis of epic proportions, and it’s going to take all of us, doing our part, to ensure that Californians have access to affordable housing,” Bonta said in a news release. “The city of Huntington Beach’s proposed ordinance attempts to unlawfully exempt the city from state law that creates sorely needed additional housing for low- and moderate-income Californians.”

According to the news release, the builder’s remedy provision is triggered if a city doesn’t enact a state-mandated affordable housing plan. As long as a developer has a project that includes 20 percent for low-income or 100 percent for moderate-income then the builder can ignore local zoning laws — but not state environmental laws.

The city’s ordinance would seek to prohibit any projects under the state’s builder’s remedy law, which was signed into law in 1990 by former Gov. George Deukmejian.

Mayor Tony Strickland and Councilman Casey McKeon will join City Attorney Michael Gates for a meeting with reporters Tuesday afternoon on the issue, but declined any comment until then.

Councilman Dan Kalmick, who voted against the council majority’s plans in December, told City News Service that Bonta’s letter concerned him.

“I’m really worried that we got a letter from the Department of Justice threatening to sue us,” Kalmick said. “I was against filing suit (against the state) and passing an ordinance to make state law illegal. What’s the next step? Are we going to try to make motorcycle helmets illegal in Huntington Beach? Allow people to smoke inside? It’s disappointing. I’m worried about the path this new council majority wants to take. It’s wild.”

City News Service contributed to this report.