Politicians take Huntington Beach to task over builder’s remedy defiance

Following the Huntington Beach Planning Commission’s vote to move forward with a citywide builder’s remedy ban, state politicians have weighed in on the controversial local ordinance — and they’re not amused. 

“No city is above the law and the City of Huntington Beach is no exception. Full stop,” California state Sen. Dave Min, whose district includes a portion of Huntington Beach and parts of six other citie, said in a release last week. 

“The council majority’s current course of action in trying to defy the rule of law and rebel against the authority of the State Legislature is reckless, counterproductive and a waste of taxpayer dollars,” Min continued. “Political theater of this kind neglects the real issue at hand: America’s housing crisis.” 

Min, a Democrat who was elected in 2020, also suggested that if Huntington Beach officials have concerns about the Housing Accountability Act — the state law that underpins builder’s remedy and that Huntington Beach is now contesting — they should contact his or other state officials’ offices. 

The sharp words came soon after Huntington Beach very publicly advanced a local ordinance that was sure to generate attention. 

On Feb. 14, after a feisty news conference featuring the mayor and other city officials, the Huntington Beach Planning Commission voted 4-2 to advance the legislation, a City Council initiative that would preemptively ban any projects in the city filed under builder’s remedy, the decades-old legal provision that allows developers to bypass local zoning in cities that are failing to meet state housing planning mandates.

Huntington Beach has not seen any builder’s remedy applications but is currently out of compliance on its Housing Element, opening the city up to the development tactic. The city’s ordinance banning all builder’s remedy projects — which would be the first of its kind in California — is now slated to return for City Council approval and could become law around April 1. 

“We’re drawing a line in the sand,” Michael Gates, the city attorney, said in an interview last week. “It just sends a clear message to developers to not even try.” 

Last week Gates and other elected Huntington Beach officials, including the mayor, were adamant about their commitment to engaging in an extended fight over the provision — which they see as a fundamental threat to their city’s independence.  The city is also preparing a lawsuit.

Yet it’s not clear if their very public fight against builder’s remedy will gain any legal traction. In 2020 the California Supreme Court upheld one decision (Anderson v. San Jose) that affirmed the state’s right to impose housing laws even in charter cities such as Huntington Beach, which have often argued their charter status grants them special rights.  

The Planning Commission vote came after multiple warnings from Sacramento, including one from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, that the proposed builder’s remedy ban was illegal. After the vote Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office also weighed in, writing on Twitter that “Huntington Beach is playing chicken with housing.” 

“The state will hold them accountable,” the note continued. “California law lets judges appoint a state agent to do their housing planning for them — HB can do it themselves or the court will take control.” 

The drama over the looming builder’s remedy ban is escalating even as the city continues negotiating with the state’s Housing and Community Development agency over the city’s updated Housing Element, which Huntington Beach needs in order to regain state compliance and legally avert builder’s remedy projects. Last week Councilmember Casey McKeon, who proposed the ordinance, said the city is negotiating in good faith.