The protracted legal battle Huntington Beach is waging against California’s housing law has entered a new phase after city voters approved a ballot measure which declares that zoning and planning is a local matter “beyond the reach of state control.”

Measure U, an amendment to the City Charter that requires voter approval of certain city-initiated zoning or general plan changes, was approved by city voters in last week’s election by a margin of 57 to 43 percent.

Under the charter amendment, city-initiated zoning or general plan changes for projects that have generated environmental impact reports (EIR) which indicate “significant and unavoidable negative impacts to the environment” must be submitted to city voters for approval.

“City Planning and Zoning is a local, municipal affair, beyond the reach of State control or interference, a local activity reserved for the City and its people, not the State,” Measure U states.

In July, the Huntington Beach City Council voted to put Measure U on the November ballot in the midst of a battle in state and federal courts over the city’s failure to adopt an eight-year housing element plan, mandated by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, to allow 13,368 new housing units to be built in the city by 2029.

For the past two years, California has been imposing builder's remedy zoning overrides on cities that fail to adopt housing element plans in compliance with goals mandated by the state for building new housing units.

Huntington Beach has invoked its status as one of California’s charter cities in its legal fight against the state housing mandate, maintaining that a city with its own municipal constitution has some independence from state law.

In March of last year, hours after the state sued Huntington Beach over its failure to enact a housing element plan, the city filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state law as unconstitutional.

Last November, a federal judge ruled against Huntington Beach, rejecting the city’s argument that housing mandates violated the city’s 1st Amendment protection for compelled speech and 14th Amendment due process protections. The city appealed to the Ninth District Court of Appeals.

A month ago, a three-judge panel from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the lower court’s ruling. The panel of judges wrote that California cities remain subordinate political bodies to the state regardless of whether they are categorized as a charter city.

City officials have said they will appeal the panel’s ruling, possibly all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In May, a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled that Huntington Beach must pass a housing element plan compliant with state law. The city is appealing.

In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom called out Huntington Beach as he signed a new state law that allows the state attorney general to seek civil penalties against local governments that violate state housing law.

"You will soon be able to ask the folks in Huntington Beach if the law I'm about to sign is not impactful," Newsom said. "They continue to thumb their nose at the state of California, the people of this great state. They continue to lose decision after decision after decision. They abuse the process, they abuse the law and now we will enforce aggressive fines."

Newsom was referencing SB 1037, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025 and imposes a minimum penalty on violators of $10,000 per month, with the maximum penalty set at $50,000 per month for each violation calculated from the date of violation. Under the new law, revenue from the penalty will be allocated for the development of affordable housing in the affected jurisdiction.

Instant Insights /

Huntington Beach Requires Referendums for Zoning Changes

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