State sues Costa Mesa for not complying with housing law. One city leader is crying foul.
- Share via
Costa Mesa is among five cities being sued by the state for failing to produce mandated housing plans in a timely manner, the governor’s office announced Thursday. But one city leader is calling the state’s complaint misleading and unfair.
“There’s absolutely no reason why we should be named in any lawsuit,” Costa Mesa Mayor John Stephens told the Daily Pilot Thursday. “It’s just unbelievable.”
Under the banner of “No More Excuses,” this week’s move is the latest push by state leaders to hold local jurisdictions accountable for contributing to a statewide housing crisis. The four other cities called out are Half Moon Bay, Calexico, Ridgecrest and Turlock.
“California can’t solve the housing crisis while some cities sit on their hands and dare us to do something about it,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in Thursday’s news release.
“These five jurisdictions had every chance to follow the law and plan for their fair share of housing. They chose not to, so now they’ll answer for it in court. Housing law applies statewide, and no city gets a pass.”
Such legal action stems from the fact that Costa Mesa has failed to adopt a revised housing element within the city’s general plan that would accommodate, through zoning, the addition of 11,760 residential units by the end of a sixth housing cycle that runs from 2021 to 2029.
Filed in Orange County Superior Court, the state’s lawsuit seeks a judicial order that would compel Costa Mesa to adopt a compliant housing element and complete any required rezoning within 120 days.
“The city’s failure to act is arbitrary, capricious, entirely lacking in evidentiary support, contrary to established public policy, unlawful, procedurally unfair, an abuse of discretion and a failure to act as required by law,” the complaint reads.
Although Costa Mesa submitted a draft document to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in March 2023 that was deemed compliant, implementing its provisions has been a long and arduous process.
Officials campaigned for Measure K in 2022, an initiative that allowed for the rezoning of certain commercial and industrial parcels for residential uses — effectively overriding an earlier citizen-backed initiative that would have subjected such a process to a citywide vote.
The 2022 initiative undid a voter referendum on certain zone changes, promising the public a say in an anticipated citywide rezoning effort. Now, as that process is set to begin, some wonder whether Measure K’s promise will be kept.
The narrowly passed measure opened the doors for a revisioning of housing opportunity zones, but actually amending the city’s zoning code has taken several more years to complete.
Staff are now introducing the sweeping changes to the public in a campaign called “Neighborhoods Where We All Belong” and conducting hearings at the planning commission level before seeking adoption by the City Council.
Stephens said city officials have been working directly with HCD staff throughout the process to hash out a timeline for compliance, submitting the proposed zoning updates in an effort of good faith.
The TimesOC newsletter brings you the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
“As we speak, we’re waiting for HCD to comment on those. We’re not refusing to comply with housing element laws, we’re moving forward,” he said.
The mayor further pointed out the city’s efforts to open Mesa Vista, a conversion of an old Motel 6 on Newport Boulevard into 86 units of permanent supportive housing for at-risk seniors and veterans, as well as a second location, Avon River Apartments, on Bristol Street.
Since 2019, Costa Mesa’s bridge shelter has taken in unhoused residents, finding permanent homes for 513 people and reducing the city’s homeless count by around two-thirds.
“I have no idea why we would be named in a lawsuit under these circumstances,” Stephens said.
A statement offered in Thursday’s release by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta did not offer Costa Mesa much in the way of condolence.
“California’s housing crisis demands actions, not excuses,” he said. “Jurisdictions that remain out of compliance with our Housing Element law are standing in the way of homes Californians need. We are well past the halfway point of the current housing planning cycle, and timely compliance is not optional.”
Thursday’s announcement follows previous legal action taken by the state against the city of Huntington Beach, which refused to comply with housing mandates and in May was ordered by a judge to pay $160,000 in penalties, with fines escalating to $50,000 per month until compliance was reached.
City leaders capitulated, approving a housing plan in a 5-2 vote during a June 16 council meeting.
“At this point, I believe I need to be a ‘yes’ vote for the sake of our taxpayers,” Huntington Beach City Councilmember Don Kennedy said at the meeting. “Sitting in this chair, at this point, I believe that the path of non-compliance will lead to much more financial pain than I’m willing to put on the citizens.”
Should Costa Mesa continue to fail to meet the defined housing plan benchmarks, the state could effectively freeze the city’s ability to issue permits and allow for by-right approval of housing projects that met certain affordability standards — under a “Builder’s Remedy” provision — bypassing local control by the Costa Mesa Planning Commission and City Council.
The lawsuit against Costa Mesa petitions the court for temporary relief, “including but not limited to the suspension of the city’s nonresidential permitting authority and mandating the approval of certain residential developments.”
“If you read that, it sounds like we’re Huntington Beach, refusing to comply,” Stephens said Thursday. “It doesn’t express what we’ve done — it’s so misleading.”
