government Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced Thursday that the state has filed a lawsuit against Huntington Beach, alleging that the city’s ban on approving applications for certain types of housing projects violates California law.

The state is also filing for a preliminary injunction, which would prohibit the ban from taking effect while the lawsuit is pending. Bonta said he was “disappointed” that the state had to resort to a lawsuit.

“California is facing an existential housing crisis, one that we should all solve together,” Bonta said at a news conference. “Instead, the Huntington Beach City Council has chosen to clamp down on affordable housing projects, infringe on the rights of property owners, and knowingly violate the state’s housing law.”

The lawsuit is the latest installment in an ongoing battle over housing between the state and the Orange County beach community that has been a thorn in Newsom’s side since he took office. Newsom called Huntington Beach an example of “what’s wrong with housing in the state of California.”

“They’re Exhibit A, what

NIMBY

ism looks and she

don’t represent the people they claim to represent,” Newsom said, referring to a term used to describe people who oppose new housing in their neighborhood. “This is a waste of time and they are wasting taxpayers’ money.”

A spokesperson for the

C

City of Huntington Beach did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The city, which announced its intention to hold its own press conference on Thursday afternoon, has argued it has been unfairly targeted by the Newsom government.

The lawsuit focuses on a ban Huntington Beach placed on applications for projects under Senate Bill 9, a new state housing law that makes it easier for homeowners to split their single-family lots and build a duplex on each side for a possible total of four units on one plot.

The law is part of a broader effort the state has made in recent years to strengthen and pave California’s housing stock

the

way for more affordable units. The Huntington Beach City Council also reaffirmed its policy on Tuesday to stop approving applications for associated housing units, also known as casitas, in-laws or granny flats.

Newsom telegraphed the lawsuit last month when he called Huntington Beach at a news conference and said he wouldn’t hesitate to hold cities “accountable for doing the right thing and providing housing for people at all income levels.”

The lawsuit is the second time the state has taken its housing battle with the city to court. Just weeks after Newsom took office in 2019, the state filed a lawsuit against Huntington Beach alleging that the city violated a state law that requires cities and counties to set aside enough land for new housing development.

“The city had plenty of time and time to adjust course,” Bonta said on Thursday. “Instead, they chose a path that led us to where we are today. They asked for this and they earned this.”

Bonta also warned that the lawsuit could be amended to challenge Huntington Beach’s proposed ordinance to prohibit approval of any housing development application that does not comply with the city’s zoning and general land-use plan, regardless of state law.

Bonta previously sent a letter warning the city that the ordinance would violate the “builders remedy,” a state law designed to crack down on cities that don’t have meaningful plans for new housing and to pave the way for new housing. to build more affordable units.

The law gives developers more freedom to build projects in cities that have insufficient plans for more housing and therefore do not meet state requirements. Developers are required to set aside at least 20% of their projects for affordable housing, or 100% for middle-income housing, but will only be triggered when local governments fail to submit housing blueprints with realistic plans for more development.