Court Reinstates Challenge to Newport Beach Housing Plan

The state Court of Appeal has reinstated a major portion of a lawsuit that challenges the Newport Beach general housing plan as inadequate in addressing and providing for the needs of people with low and moderate income.

In a unanimous decision released Tuesday, the three-judge panel in Santa Ana ruled that the Superior Court could not dismiss as moot a challenge to the plan--formally known as a housing element-simply because the city amended the element.

State law requires every municipality to have a housing element, which is a statement of the local government’s perception of its housing needs and how the government plans to meet them.

The opinion, written by Justice Sheila P. Sonenshine, stated that because housing elements are often amended and could thus avoid court review, the lower court should hold “a full adversarial hearing” to determine if the new housing plan corrects the alleged deficiencies of the old one.

Santa Ana lawyer Crystal Sims, one of the lawyers for Newport Beach resident Olive Davis and others, hailed the decision for reinstating “a very major part of the case.”

But Joel D. Kuperberg of Costa Mesa, one of the defense lawyers, said he expected a trial would produce “no real evidence” of housing-element problems or of other claimed wrongs.

The suit, filed in 1981, also contends that Newport Beach’s general plan is an illegal attempt at discriminatory zoning and racial discrimination.