California‘s controversial housing mandate is facing resistance from suburban areas around San Francisco, but the city of Huntington Beach, a Republican stronghold in Orange County, is the one getting the most flak from the office of Governor Gavin Newsom.
Now, California‘s reparations task force has approved a series of recommendations to the state legislature that could further erode local control over zoning and real estate – a move that has raised eyebrows among residents of Huntington Beach and other cities.
The task force, created by state legislation signed by Newsom in 2020, has proposed that the legislature identify cities and counties in California that have allegedly redlined neighborhoods and whose “current levels of residential racial segregation are statistically similar to the degree of segregation in that city or county when it was redlined.”
Once identified, the task force wants the legislature to require these localities to submit all residential land use ordinances for review and approval by a state agency, with the agency rejecting (or requiring modification of) the ordinance if the agency finds that the proposed ordinance will maintain or exacerbate levels of residential racial segregation.
The task force also recommends providing assistance to Black Californians to increase home ownership, as well as providing a so–called “right to return“ to areas they were allegedly displaced from due to “state–sanctioned violence“ and “racial terror.”
The final recommendations include a host of other housing–related proposals such as repealing policies limiting those with criminal records from renting property, funding housing–focused anti–racism education programs, and establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) certification programs for affordable housing contractors, providers, and decision makers.
But the proposal has not been well–received in Huntington Beach, with Mayor Tony Strickland, a Republican, saying at a meeting last month that “people don‘t want an urban community here“ and that the state action could have a “severe negative impact on our community‘s quality of life.”
Days later, Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and the Department of Housing and Community Development jointly announced a motion amending a lawsuit from March with the goal of holding Huntington Beach accountable for violating the state Housing Element Law.
The governor said in a statement that “every city and county needs to do their part to bring down the high housing and rent costs that are impacting families across this state“ and that “California will continue taking every step necessary to ensure everyone is building their fair share of housing and not flouting state housing laws at the expense of the community.”
Strickland responded to the lawsuit by saying that the state‘s actions “only strengthens the city‘s arguments in court that the state is not following the law with these housing mandates,” adding that “these regular state press releases announcing legal actions against Huntington Beach may grab headlines, but they do not intimidate or deter the city, and they have no effect in the court of law, where these conflicts of law will ultimately be decided.”
It remains to be seen whether the reparations committee‘s proposals will see the light of day and become law. But if they do, it could mean even more state control over local land use decisions – and could be a blow to the autonomy of cities like Huntington Beach.
