Kennedy Commission and Jones Day partner with PLC as Huntington Beach City Council blocks development of affordable housing in Beach-Edinger Corridor

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On July 31, 2015, two formerly homeless veterans and the Kennedy Commission filed a petition to void the City of Huntington Beach’s efforts to block affordable housing. The Petition for Alternative Writ of Mandate and Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in Orange County Superior Court seeks to force Huntington Beach to implement its state-approved General Housing Plan Element. The petitioners are represented by PLC, the California Affordable Housing Law Project, and Jones Day.

“Orange County is among the top ten least affordable metropolitan markets in the nation. One-third to one-half of all Huntington Beach residents already spend an unaffordable share of their income on housing costs. Huntington Beach’s efforts to block development of affordable housing will only worsen the housing crisis,” said Cesar Covarrubias, Executive Director of the Kennedy Commission and member of the PLC Board of Directors.

On May 4, 2015, the Huntington Beach City Council adopted an amendment that blocks the development of affordable housing at the City’s primary location for residential development, the Beach-Edinger Corridor. The Council’s action is in direct conflict with its own General Plan Housing Element, which was approved by the California Department of Housing and Community Development in 2013. The General Plan Housing Element–referred to as the “constitution” for all planning and development within the city–allowed for the development of high-density low-cost housing by-right along the city’s Beach-Edinger commercial corridor in order to accommodate the city’s housing needs for low-income residents.

The new amendment, referred to as the Beach-Edinger Corridor Specific Plan Amendment or “BECSP Amendment,” blocks the development of low-cost housing by imposing a development cap, burdensome parking, setback, height, and use restrictions, and costly and time-consuming discretionary permit requirements. The petitioners assert writ causes of action against the City for its failure to act consistently with its Housing Element and its failure to implement its Housing Element. Petitioners also seek a declaration that the BECSP Amendment is void and an injunction against the City’s unlawful conflict with state law, violation of the Due Process clause of the California Constitution, and unlawful housing discrimination.

“Prior to its adoption of the BECSP Amendment, the Huntington Beach General Plan Housing Element was considered a model plan for the development of affordable housing. However, since the Huntington Beach City Council adopted the BECSP Amendment, the California Department of Housing and Community Development has rescinded its prior certification, warned the City that the BECSP Amendment will negatively impact low-income households, and found the City in violation of state housing laws,” said Sarah Gregory, PLC’s Interim Lead Attorney for the Affordable Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit.