Huntington Beach lost another round in its legal battle to resist the state's requirements for affordable housing, officials said Thursday.
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The state Supreme Court refused on Wednesday to review an appellate court ruling in the state's favor compelling the city to adhere to state requirements for affordable housing.
City officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta hailed the decision.
City officials argued that Huntington Beach's status that as a charter city -- which allows for more authority in governing itself -- it did not have to comply with state mandates on building affordable housing. The state sued the city in March 2023, and a year later a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled the city violated the state's Housing Element Law, but did not include mandate remedies the state wanted. Appellate court justices, however, ruled the lower court judge erred when a 120-day deadline was omitted so now the case will be sent back to the judge in San Diego to address the issue.
"Huntington Beach needs to end this pathetic NIMBY behavior," Newsom said in a news release. "They are failing their own citizens by wasting time and money that could be used to create much-needed housing. No more excuses, you lost once again -- it's time to get building."
Bonta said the city has "run out of excuses in our state's courts. It was required to submit a compliant housing element on Oct. 15, 2021, more than four years ago. Rather than follow the law, the city has been squandering public money to avoid building its fair share of housing."
The city sued the state in federal court to challenge the constitutionality of its housing laws, but the city has failed there as well in lower court and with the federal appeals court. The city has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that is still pending.
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