Appeals Court Sides With State, Tosses Huntington Beach Suit Over Housing Mandates

Homes in Huntington Beach, Calif., on July 12, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

A federal appeals court rejected Oct. 30 a lawsuit filed by the city of Huntington Beach challenging the constitutionality of California housing laws that require cities to create a plan to boost levels of affordable housing.

The Ninth Circuit Court three-judge panel issued a unanimous opinion—citing precedent and a lack of standing as reasons to deny the city’s claims.

Gov. Gavin Newsom welcomed the decision, saying the ruling pushes back on the city’s “cynical attempt to prevent the state from enforcing our housing laws.”

“No more excuses,” he said in an Oct. 30 statement. “Every city must follow state law and do its part.”

California sued the beach town in March 2023 alleging the city was in violation of the housing laws. Huntington Beach officials responded with a lawsuit against the state, which was initially dismissed in November 2023 by a district court in Los Angeles.

Now, an appeals court has affirmed that decision. In the opinion, the justices said prior rulings established that cities and their officials are forbidden from contesting whether state laws are constitutional in federal court. The court rejected Huntington Beach’s argument that its status as a municipal corporation and charter city gives it the power to do so.

Huntington Beach officials did not respond to requests for comment about the current ruling.

City Attorney Michael Gates previously told The Epoch Times that he believes the city has standing.

“Because we’re a charter city we do have our own proper standing to bring federal claims in federal court,” he said.

The city has argued that the state’s requirement that it zone for more than 13,000 units of housing was the largest allocation in the state, and disproportionate to other cities, among other issues.

Since 8,000 of those units were mandated to be set aside as “affordable” for residents earning very low, low, and moderate incomes, the city said that to reach that number, potentially 40,000 units would have to be built, as developers usually can only include about 20 of units in a development project as affordable in order to remain profitable.

California’s top law enforcement official said the Oct. 30 ruling was well-founded.

“I am pleased that yet another court has emphatically rejected Huntington Beach’s attempt to exempt itself from state housing laws,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

He said the state’s lawsuit against the city remains, and he is committed to “pursuing all remedies” for housing law violations.

In May, a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the state in that lawsuit. The ruling would have required the city to submit a housing plan within 120 days. However, the city appealed in that case as well.

At the time, Huntington Beach officials said they would keep working to oppose the state’s housing mandates.

“We are committed to opposing Sacramento’s overreach,” Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said in a statement. “The state’s ‘mandates’ for high-density housing in our city jeopardize our groundwater supply, harm our wildlife and wetlands, and threaten to escalate pollution and noise.”

Michael Gates, city attorney for the beach town also known as Surf City, also said earlier this year that the legal challenges will go on.

“We'll continue these battles on all fronts, and we will not be deterred or intimidated,” Gates said in the city’s statement after the prior ruling.

He said housing laws are “detrimental” to residents’ quality of life and the city’s environment and natural resources.