The United States Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal case challenging California’s Housing Element Law on February 23. The city of Huntington Beach in Orange County, Southern California expressed disappointment, stating that the fight is not over yet. California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement celebrating the high court’s rejection of the plaintiffs’ request to review the case, upholding the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This challenge to the California regulation has not been limited to one city, as many cities have lamented and reluctantly complied. However, Huntington Beach was the city that appealed to the highest court.
Since 1969, the California government has revised its housing construction “general plan” every eight years, requiring each city to report their housing construction numbers as specified, including building a certain percentage of affordable housing to meet the housing market demands in California.
The lawsuit began on March 9, 2023, when Bonta, Governor Newsom, and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Secretary Gustavo Velasquez filed a lawsuit against Huntington Beach in state court, alleging that the city had failed to timely adopt the mandated housing plan.
Subsequently, Huntington Beach filed a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of certain housing laws in California. The case went through the Central District Federal District Court of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and finally to the United States Supreme Court. The city argued that as a charter city, it had a certain degree of autonomy to not comply with California’s housing requirements and to build thousands of new housing units. Moreover, each city has its own characteristics and limitations in terms of development space and infrastructure.
“Huntington Beach took this battle all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court – and lost. Today, the high court officially refused to intervene, indicating that the city must comply with California’s housing laws,” Bonta stated in the declaration on the 23rd. “For years, Huntington Beach has baselessly resisted, wasting taxpayers’ money, and now they can no longer claim that the U.S. Constitution is on their side.”
The statement further indicated that they had won a decision from the California courts requiring the city to correct its unlawful actions, holding Huntington Beach accountable and significantly restricting its autonomy before it rectifies its wrongdoings. This means Huntington Beach faces a deadline set by the California courts to complete planning for 13,368 new housing units by mid-April, and the city’s power to approve or reject land use changes will be limited.
Governor Newsom stated that city officials cannot use the First Amendment of the Constitution as an excuse to violate California’s housing laws, and “Huntington Beach officials who did not fulfill their duties, wasting taxpayer money on this embarrassing practice (lawsuit), should feel ashamed.”
Mayor Casey McKeon of Huntington Beach released a statement on the city’s website, saying, “While it is disappointing that the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear our housing lawsuit, it is not surprising, as only about 1% of cases appealed to the high court are accepted.”
“We believe that the argument made by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding ‘lack of standing to sue the state government’ by cities in federal courts needs to be resolved, as the vast majority of circuit courts allow cities within their jurisdiction to sue the state government on certain issues in federal court.”
“Huntington Beach voters chose us to defend local control over municipal affairs, especially housing matters, and we will persist in our efforts,” McKeon said. “Even if this road comes to an end, we will seek other avenues and continue to fight to defend the local control rights of Huntington Beach residents.”