By Brandon Nguyen
In a brewing battle between local and state officials, the city of Huntington Beach is fighting to maintain local control over its housing policies while the state of California seeks to enforce its housing laws. This battle is currently taking place in the courts where it will be decided if Huntington Beach will be forced to build more affordable housing units.
The dispute revolves around the Housing Element Law, which requires that cities and counties create affordable housing units in order to address the state’s housing shortage.
The state of California has pressured Huntington Beach to comply with the Housing Element Law since 2015. The state took legal action in 2018, suing the city for not complying and accusing it of being a “bad actor” in dealing with the state’s housing crisis.
Huntington Beach has pushed back against the state’s claims, arguing that the city has already taken steps to encourage affordable housing, including the construction of more than 1,500 affordable housing units over the past few decades.
The city has also argued that the state is overarching and that housing should be primarily a city matter instead of forcing a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
The dispute has now escalated to the point where the state is threatening to withhold transportation funds from the city unless it complies with the Housing Element Law. The state has already withheld $550,000 in transportation funds from the city and has threatened to withhold an additional $1.2 million if the city does not comply, which could reduce funding into buses, roads and infrastructure development.
In response, Huntington Beach has filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that it is being specifically targeted and adding that the Housing Element Law is unconstitutional.
Huntington Beach’s conservative city council majority argue that they should have the right to determine their own housing policies. They believe that the city is already too crowded and that adding more affordable housing units would devalue other properties.
The state of California’s liberal lawmakers argue that the state is trying to address a housing crisis that spans over the entire state. They maintain that the Housing Element Law is constitutional and that the state has the right to enforce its own laws.
While lawmakers debate over the approach to housing, there is no denying that housing is a significant issue. A recent study found that California had a shortage of more than 3.5 million housing units and that the state needed to build at least 180,000 new units every year to keep up with population growth.
The lawsuits remain in trial, and this issue will ultimately be determined by the courts and California voters.
