Huntington Beach fight over California housing mandate fizzles

(CN) — The California Supreme Court rejected an appeal Thursday by Huntington Beach to review a ruling that forced the small seaside city to produce a plan to allow for more housing, despite its status as a charter city.

“Huntington Beach has run out of excuses in our state’s courts," said California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “It was required to submit a compliant housing element on Oct. 15, 2021, more than four years ago. Rather than follow the law, the city has been squandering public money to avoid building its fair share of housing.”

The decision by the high court marks the end of one protracted battle between the state and the curiously conservative city, though the multifront legal war — which has included lawsuits over the city’svoter ID law, trans rights for students and other housing-related matters — will presumably continue on.

Every eight years, cities in California must produce a “housing element,” essentially a broad outline for how a city will allow for the construction of more housing for various income levels. Huntington Beach — or Surf City, as it enjoys calling itself — was required to produce one in 2021, but didn’t, on the theory that its status as a charter city gave it immunity from such mandates. It has said that the housing element would allow for the construction of more apartment buildings and affordable housing, which would change the character of the city and harm the environment — a belief that some deride as NIMBY, short for “not in my backyard.”

California sued Huntington Beach in 2023 over its shirking of the housing element law. A Superior Court judge in San Diego ruled that the city was bound by law to produce a housing element, but declined to impose a 120-day deadline, which the state had asked for. In September, the state appeals court intervened and gave Huntington Beach 120 days — until Jan. 10, 2026 — to produce a housing element. Until then, the city has only limited authority over permitting, zoning and subdivision approvals.

“Because local governments would not address the housing shortage if left to their own devices, state intervention is sensible — if not outright necessary,” the justices wrote in the appellate ruling.

“Huntington Beach needs to end this pathetic NIMBY behavior,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in his own strongly worded statement after the ruling. “They are failing their own citizens by wasting time and money that could be used to create much-needed housing. No more excuses, you lost once again — it’s time to get building.”

A spokesperson for the city of Huntington Beach did not respond to an email requesting a comment.

Follow @hillelaron