Huntington Beach leaders won’t get to argue in front of the United States Supreme Court why they shouldn’t have to make a state-mandated housing plan after justices declined to pick up their case on Monday.
It’s the first time the highest court in the country has weighed in on the city’s argument that charter cities should not be compelled to follow state housing law, a claim state leaders have been pushing against in court across multiple lawsuits since March 2023.
Read: Huntington Beach Continues to Lose Lawsuits Arguing Charter City Rights
With the federal justice’s decision not to hear the case, Huntington Beach’s lawsuit against the state is dead.
But the state’s lawsuit against the city is still moving forward after the California Supreme Court declined to hear the case last year, and about the same time San Diego Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal ordered city leaders to get a housing plan in order by Spring.
Read: Judge Orders Huntington Beach to Adopt Housing Plan
So far, the city council has not had any public discussions on approving a housing plan to send to the state.
Both Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta praised the US Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case in a Monday statement.
“Huntington Beach took its fight to the highest court in the country — and lost,” Bonta said.
“After years of meritless resistance that has wasted taxpayer dollars, Huntington Beach can no longer claim that the U.S. Constitution is on its side,” he wrote, noting, ”It is not.”
Bonta added, “We look forward to holding the City fully accountable in state court.”
Newsom pointed to the city’s argument that the state requiring them to approve a housing plan violated their First Amendment rights, saying it was not “an excuse to violate state housing law.”
“The Huntington Beach officials who wasted taxpayer dollars on this embarrassing approach rather than doing their jobs ought to be ashamed of themselves,” Newsom said. “What a waste of taxpayers’ dollars that could have gone to much-needed housing for their community.”
Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon said it was “not surprising,” the Supreme Court passed on their case in a Monday afternoon statement on the city’s Facebook page.
“The voters of Huntington Beach elected us to defend our local control over municipal affairs, especially housing, and that’s what we will continue to do relentlessly,” McKeon wrote. “Even though this path has ended, other paths will always exist for us to continue to rigorously fight to defend the Huntington Beach residents’ local control.”
Until the city gets a new housing plan approved by state regulators, city leaders can’t use much of their zoning power to decide how developers build on land set aside for housing in the city’s old housing plan as part of the Regional Housing Needs Allocation, also known as RHNA.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
