California city to revoke ban on homeless housing in settlement with state

NORWALK, Calif. (CN) — A Southern California city on Friday agreed in a settlement with the state to repeal an ordinance that banned emergency shelters and other facilities for unhoused people.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit that California brought last year against Norwalk, a largely Latino city of about 100,000 residents in Los Angeles County. State officials accused the city of violating California housing laws.

“The Norwalk city council’s failure to reverse this ban without a lawsuit, despite knowing it is unlawful, is inexcusable," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “No community should turn its back on its residents in need — especially while there are people in your community sleeping on the streets.”

Under the settlement, Norwalk will revoke the ordinance.

The city agreed to implement overdue housing programs to bring it into compliance with state laws. It will also create a housing trust fund for the development of affordable housing and deposit $250,000 into it.

The settlement is still subject to court approval, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

“We are more than willing to work with any city or county that wants to do its part to solve our housing crisis," Bonta said. “By that same token, if any city or county wants to test our resolve, today’s settlement is your answer. All of us have a legal and moral responsibility to help — not hurt — those struggling to keep a roof over their heads or lacking housing altogether.”

In August last year, Norwalk’s five-member council passed one of the toughest anti-homeless housing measures in the state. It placed a temporary, 45-day construction moratorium not only on homeless shelters and longterm supportive housing but on businesses like laundromats, liquor stores and payday lenders.

Newsom blasted the moratorium, calling it “beyond cruel.” He revoked the city’s compliance with a state housing law, making Norwalk ineligible to receive certain funds. That decision also prevented the city from denying certain affordable housing projects.

Instead of backing down, Norwalk City Council doubled down, extending the ban for a full year.

In February, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied the city’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit.

Norwalk’s moratorium was passed as an emergency zoning ordinance. Cities are allowed adopt such ordinances — but only after written legislative findings showing there’s an imminent threat to public health, safety and welfare that can be ameliorated through zoning. Bonta said the city had failed to do that, calling it a “cynical … attempt to circumvent our state housing laws.”

City officials justified the ban by arguing they’d done enough for the region’s massive homeless population and yet had not received adequate state funding.

Residents complained that hotels converted into temporary homeless housing have become focal points for loitering. One such project, with 210 rooms, led to numerous reports of panhandling. The site closed after 16 months, leaving hundreds of people to return to the streets.

Some of the city’s concerns were echoed by a Superior Court judge in 2021, who called the large converted motel a “public nuisance” and criticized the county for concentrating hotel conversions “in working class, minority communities like Norwalk.”

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